RNA-directed DNA methylation involves co-transcriptional small RNA-guided slicing of Pol V transcripts in Arabidopsis

Small RNAs regulate chromatin modifications such as DNA methylation and gene silencing across eukaryotic genomes. In plants, RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) requires 24-nucleotide (nt) small RNAs (siRNAs) that bind ARGONAUTE4 (AGO4) and target genomic regions for silencing. It also requires non-coding RNAs transcribed by RNA POLYMERASE V (Pol V), although their function is largely unknown. We utilized a modified global nuclear run-on (GRO) protocol followed by deep sequencing to capture Pol V nascent transcripts genome-wide. We uncovered unique characteristics of Pol V RNAs, including a uracil (U) common at position 10. This uracil was complementary to the 5’ adenine found in many AGO4-bound 24-nt siRNAs and was eliminated in an siRNA-deficient mutant. This indicates co-transcriptional slicing of Pol V transcripts by AGO4-bound siRNAs. Pol V transcript slicing also required the elongation factor SPT5L. These results highlight a novel step in RNA-mediated transcriptional gene silencing, which is a conserved process in many eukaryotes. 24 GROseq and 4 ChIPseq samples.