Effect of AtR8 lncRNA Partial Deletion on Arabidopsis Seed Germination

Long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) are longer than 200 nucleotides in length, which largely exist in organism and have various biological functions. AtR8 RNA is a lncRNA transcribed by RNA polymerase III in Arabidopsis. Northern blot analysis indicates that AtR8 RNA is abundant during seed germination. AtR8 RNA partial deletion reduces seed germination under normal culture condition. SA treatment induces AtR8 RNA expression. High concentrations SA treatment decreases seed germination of wild type and AtR8 RNA partial deletion mutant, but the inhibition for AtR8 RNA partial deletion mutant is more obviously. All the results show that AtR8 RNA may involve in arabidopsis seed germination process.