Figure 3. AGO18 unlikely functions as an effector of vsiRNAs.
(A) Detection of vsiRNAs in total extracts (Input) or AGO18 immunoprecipitates prepared from mock- or RSV-inoculated plants by Northern blot. The silver-stained gel shows the quality of purified AGO18 complexes. The asterisk indicates the position of AGO18. The position of an RNA size marker is shown on the right of the blot. U6 is probed and served as a loading control. (B) Percentage of deep sequencing reads matching vsiRNAs in total reads obtained from total extracts, AGO1a, AGO1b, and AGO18-associated small RNAs. Samples for deep sequencing were prepared from RSV-infected rice plants.