SiRNA regulates DNA methylation that interferes gene and lncRNA expression in the heterozygous polyploid switchgrass genome

Understanding DNA methylome and its relation to noncoding RNAs includingmicroRNA (miRNA) and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is essential to describe keybiological processes in plants. However, few DNA methylome studies have examinedits functional roles in grass species with highly heterozygous and polyploidycharacters.We performed genomic DNA methylation profiling in tetraploid switchgrass (Panicumvirgatum L.) cultivar 'Alamo'. We identified genome-wide single-base resolutionmethylation patterns in both leaf and root tissues, and characterized the relationshipbetween DNA methylation and mRNA, miRNA, and lncRNA populations in the leaftissue.