Project description:Nectaries are the glands responsible for nectar secretion. To understand the genetic programming underlying nectar production, male and female squash(Cucurbita pepo) floral nectaries at four different time points (pre-secretion #1, pre-secretion #2, secretory, and post-secretory) in biological triplicate were collected, with RNA being isolated and subjected to Illumina RNA-seq analysis.
Project description:Small RNAs (21-24 nt) are pivotal regulators of gene expression that guide both transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing mechanisms in diverse eukaryotes, including most if not all plants. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are the two major types, both of which have a demonstrated and important role in plant development, stress responses and pathogen resistance. In this work, we used a deep sequencing approach (Sequencing-By-Synthesis, or SBS) to develop sequence resources of small RNAs from Cucurbita maxima tissues (including leaves, flowers and phloem sap). The high depth of the resulting datasets enabled us to examine in detail critical small RNA features as size distribution, tissue-specific regulation and sequence conservation between different organs in this species. We also developed database resources and a dedicated website (http://smallrna.udel.edu/) with computational tools for allowing other users to identify new miRNAs or siRNAs involved in specific regulatory pathways, verify the degree of conservation of these sequences in other plant species and map small RNAs on genes or larger regions of the maize genome under study.