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Sexual lineage specific DNA methylation regulates Arabidopsis meiosis

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posted on 2017-11-27, 14:02 authored by James Walker, Hongbo Gao, Jingyi Zhang, Billy Aldridge, Martin Vickers, James D. Higgins, Xiaoqi Feng
DNA methylation controls eukaryotic gene expression and is extensively reprogrammed to regulate animal development. However, whether developmental methylation reprogramming during the sporophytic life cycle of flowering plants regulates genes is presently unknown. Here we report a distinctive, gene-targeted RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) activity in the Arabidopsis thaliana male sexual lineage that regulates gene expression in meiocytes. Loss of sexual lineage-specific RdDM causes mis-splicing of the MPS1/PRD2 gene, thereby disrupting meiosis. Our results establish a regulatory paradigm in which de novo methylation creates a cell-lineage-specific epigenetic signature that controls gene expression and contributes to cellular function in flowering plants.

Funding

This work was funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) David Phillips Fellowship (BBL0250431) to X.F., a BBSRC grant (BBM01973X1) to J.H., and a Sainsbury PhD Studentship to J.W.

History

Citation

Nature Genetics, 2017, 50, pp. 130–137

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES/MBSP Non-Medical Departments/Department of Genetics

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Published in

Nature Genetics

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

issn

1061-4036

eissn

1546-1718

Acceptance date

2017-10-06

Copyright date

2017

Available date

2018-06-18

Publisher version

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-017-0008-5

Notes

The file associated with this record is under embargo until 6 months after publication, in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The full text may be available through the publisher links provided above.

Language

en

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