Daily temperature cycles promote alternative splicing of RNAs encoding SR45a, a splicing regulator in maize

This was a comparative transcriptome analysis by using high throughput sequencing. To assess the effects of heat stress on maize alternative splicing we used a controlled environment facility called the Enviratron to simulate field conditions. For our experiments, maize plants were subjected to conditions simulating normal diurnal rhythms of light and temperature, with increasing maximal daily temperature (MDT). Maize plants were grown continuously under four different temperature regimes with simulated morning temperatures ramped up over 6 hr to the MDT of 31°C, 33°C, 35°C or 37°C and simulated evening/night time temperatures ramped down over 8 hr to 10°C below the MDT. We tracked the alternative splicing events of maize W22 seedlings grow under different temperatures (MDT of 31°C, 33°C, 35°C or 37°C) to evaluate how different MDTs affect the program of gene alternative splicing in maize. RNA was extracted from small strips of leaf lamina excised from the first fully expanded leaf of V4 and V5 W22 plants (at 20 and 27 DAG, respectively). Plants were sampled in triplicates. Overall design: Each sample was collected in 3 biological replicates, and each replicate from mutiple plants under the same condition.