Poster Presentation Australasian RNA Biology and Biotechnology Association 2026 Conference

PROFILING RNA STRUCTURAL HETEROGENEITY IN Arabidopsis thaliana (#124)

Putri Adiela Agson Gani 1 2 3 , Xingyu Yan 1 2 3 , Selene Fernandez-Valverde 1 2 3
  1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. UNSW RNA Institute, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

RNA secondary structure (RSS) ensemble plays important roles in gene regulation, yet transcriptome-wide analyses of RSS ensembles in plants remain limited. Here, we performed dimethyl sulfate mutational profiling with sequencing (DMS-MaPseq) in Arabidopsis thaliana to generate transcriptome-wide profile of RNA structural ensembles in model plant system. We optimised the DMS concentration to obtain sufficient modification signal while maintaining RNA integrity. We also evaluated the sequencing coverage required for reliable transcriptome-wide ensemble detection using available RNA structure ensemble analysis program, SEISMIC-ensemble and DRACO. Using optimized workflow, we identify multiple transcriptomes regions that fold into two mutually exclusive conformations. These findings provide a framework for transcriptome-wide analysis of RNA structural heterogeneity in plants and highlight candidate structural elements for future investigation of their regulatory functions.