Next Generation Sequencing to Study FLK-affected genes

Purpose: The goals of this study are to compare RNA-seq profiles of Col-0, acd6-1, flk-1, flk-5, acd6-1flk-1, and acd6-1flk-5 to identify genes affected by FLK. Methods: Total RNA was extracted from 25-d old plants. A total amount of 1 μg RNA per sample was used to generate cDNA libraries, using NEBNext® UltraTM RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina® (NEB, USA) following manufacturer’s recommendations. Deep sequencing was performed using Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (Novogene Corporation Inc.). Triplicate biological samples were used for all genotypes except acd6-1flk-5, which had duplicate samples because one sample failed to pass quality control. The samples were multiplexed and sequenced with the standard paired-end sequencing that has a read length of 150bp per end and 20M reads per end per sample. Results: We found that over 8000 genes are differentially affected by FLK based on the RNAseq analysis. GO analysis revealed that FLK-affected genes are enchriched for genes involved in primary metabolism and in response to abiotic and biotic stimuli. Conclusions: The RNAseq analysis support a role of FLK in regulation of plant development and defense. 25-d old plants were collected for RNA extraction followed by cDNA library preparation and high throughput.