Genome‐wide identification of phasiRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana, and insights into biogenesis, temperature sensitivity, and organ specificity

The knowledge of biogenesis and target regulation of the phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) needs continuous update, since the phasiRNA loci are dynamically evolved in plants. Here, hundreds of phasiRNA loci of Arabidopsis thaliana were identified in distinct tissues and under different temperature. In flowers, most of the 24‐nt loci are RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase 2 (RDR2)‐dependent, while the 21‐nt loci are RDR6‐dependent. Among the RDR‐dependent loci, a significant portion is Dicer‐like 1‐dependent, indicating the involvement of microRNAs in their expression. Besides, two TAS candidates were discovered. Some interesting features of the phasiRNA loci were observed, such as the strong strand bias of phasiRNA generation, and the capacity of one locus for producing phasiRNAs by different increments. Both organ specificity and temperature sensitivity were observed for phasiRNA expression. In leaves, the TAS genes are highly activated under low temperature. Several trans‐acting siRNA—target pairs are also temperature‐sensitive. In many cases, the phasiRNA expression patterns correlate well with those of the processing signals. Analysis of the rRNA‐depleted degradome uncovered several phasiRNA loci to be RNA polymerase II‐independent. Our results should advance the understanding on phasiRNA biogenesis and regulation in plants. Summary statement The RDR‐ and DCL‐dependent processing pathways and the polymerase‐dependent transcription pathways were analyzed for the phasiRNA loci identified from Arabidopsis thaliana. The temperature sensitivity and organ specificity of the phasiRNA loci, including the TAS genes are reported.