Small RNA library preparation and illumina sequencing in plants

Abstract

The discovery of small RNAs in plants and animals almost two decades ago attracted a significant interest towards epigenetic regulation of gene expression and the practical implementation of the gained knowledge in applied studies. New and sometimes unexpected functions have been ascribed to sRNAs almost every couple of years since their discovery, hence indicating that the complete role of sRNAs in plant and animal physiology is still barely understood. Next-generation sequencing technologies allow to generate high-resolution profiles of sRNAs for the consequent analysis and possibly to discover novel functions of sRNAs. In this chapter, we provide brief guidelines for sRNA library preparation in plants and a practical approach that can be implemented to overcome possible difficulties with sequencing library generation.