Gene chip analysis of the retrotransposons in rice implanted by the N+ ion beam

In order to learn the retrotransposons expression profiles in rice implanted by low-energy ion beam and the effects on these retrotransposons adjacent genes, we analyzed expression features of the retrotransposons in rice with exposure to the nitrogen ion beam implantation(6×1017 N+/cm2), using the Agilent Rice Oligo Microarray(4×44K)Genome Array. Rice seeds were implanted by the nitrogen ion beam with 40Kev energy in dose 6×1017 N+/cm2. Total RNA, from the seedlings 96h after the germination, was used to genechip analysis. The vigor index was measured at 10 days after the germination. The results showed that the vigor index increased obviously than control. We also found that there were 43 retrotransposons transcripts detected by the chip, 4 out of these transcripts were up or down-regulated (≥2fold), including the gag, pol, and int. The differentially expressed genes (detected by the same gene chip), in the frame from up 1MB to down 1MB in the chromosomes at the differentially expressed retrotranscription, represented the same up or down regulated case. These findings suggested that the differential expression of retrotransposons in rice were related with the response to N+ ion beam implantation through the regulation of their adjacent genes.