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Transgenerational effect of mutants in the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway on the triploid block

ABSTRACT: Hybridizations of plants that differ in number of chromosome sets (ploidy) frequently causes endosperm failure and seed arrest, a phenomenon referred to as triploid block. Unreduced diploid gametes generated by the omission of second division1 (osd1) mutant induce the triploid block, similar as tetraploid (4x) plants. We recently found that mutations in NRPD1, encoding the largest subunit of the plant-specific RNA Polymerase IV (Pol IV), can suppress the triploid block. Pol IV generates small RNAs required to guide de novo methylation in the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway. Strikingly however, mutations in other components of the RdDM pathway like RDR2 and NRPE1 fail to suppress the triploid block when inherited in the osd1 background, but have a suppressive effect as 4x mutants. In this study, we aimed at understanding the cause for this discrepancy. We found that the ability of mutants in the RdDM pathway to suppress the triploid block depends on their degree of inbreeding. While nrpd1 is able to suppress in the first homozygous generation, mutants in RDR2, NRPE1, and DRM2 require at least one additional round of inbreeding to exert a suppressive effect. Our data thus reveal that loss of RdDM function differs in its effect in early and late generations and that Pol IV acts at an early stage of triploid block establishment.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE156597 | GEO | 2021/04/20

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays critical roles in gene silencing, development, and the maintenance of genome integrity. In Arabidopsis, DNA methylation is established by DOMAINS REARRANGED METHYLTRANSFERASE 2 (DRM2) and is targeted by 24 nt small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) through a pathway termed RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM)1. This pathway requires two plant-specific RNA polymerases: Pol-IV, which functions to initiate siRNA biogenesis and Pol-V, which functions in the downstream DNA methyltransferase targeting phase of the RdDM pathway to generate scaffold transcripts that recruit downstream RdDM factors1,2. To understand the mechanisms controlling Pol-IV targeting we investigated the function of SAWADEE HOMEODOMAIN HOMOLOG 1 (SHH1)3,4, a Pol-IV interacting protein3. Here we show that SHH1 acts upstream in the RdDM pathway to enable siRNA production from a large subset of the most active RdDM targets and that SHH1 is required for Pol-IV occupancy at these same loci. We also show that the SHH1 SAWADEE domain is a novel chromatin binding module that adopts a unique tandem Tudor-like fold and functions as a dual lysine reader, probing for both unmethylated K4 and methylated K9 modifications on the histone 3 (H3) tail. Finally, we show that key residues within both lysine binding pockets of SHH1 are required in vivo to maintain siRNA and DNA methylation levels as well as Pol-IV occupancy at RdDM targets, demonstrating a central role for methyl H3K9 binding in SHH1 function and providing the first insights into the mechanism of Pol-IV targeting. Given the parallels between methylation systems in plants and mammals1,5, a further understanding of this early targeting step may aid in our ability to control the expression of endogenous and newly introduced genes, which has broad implications for agriculture and gene therapy. For wild type plants (ecotype Columbia) and RdDM mutants whole-genome small RNA (sRNA-seq) and bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) was performed. The Col and nrpe1 BS-seq libraries were previously reported (GSE39247) and so are not part of this submission. In addition, two replicates of whole genome chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-seq) was performed on wild type (ecotype Columbia) plants as a negative control with experimentals consiting of nrpd1 mutant plants carrying a C-terminally epitope tagged (3XFLAG) NRPD1. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and small RNA sequencing was also performed on shh1 mutant plants transformed with the wild-type SHH1 protein-coding construct as well as multiple constructs containing point mutations. For these complementation libraries a separate shh1 mutant and Col control line were sequenced (“complementation replicates”).

Project description:Silencing pathways prevent transposable element (TE) proliferation and help to maintain genome integrity through cell division. Silenced genomic regions can be classified as either euchromatic or heterochromatic, and are targeted by genetically separable epigenetic pathways. In plants, the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway targets mostly euchromatic regions, while CMT methyltransferases are mainly associated with heterochromatin. However, many epigenetic features - including DNA methylation patterning - are largely indistinguishable between these regions, so how the functional separation is maintained is unclear. The linker histone H1 is preferentially localised to heterochromatin and has been proposed to restrict RdDM from encroachment. To test this hypothesis, we followed RdDM genomic localisation in an H1 mutant by performing ChIP-seq on the largest subunit, NRPE1, of the central RdDM polymerase (Pol V). Loss of H1 resulted in heterochromatic TE enrichment of NPRE1. Increased NRPE1 binding was associated with increased chromatin accessibility in h1, suggesting that H1 restricts NRPE1 occupancy by compacting chromatin. However, RdDM occupancy did not impact H1 localization, demonstrating that H1 hierarchically restricts RdDM positioning. H1 mutants experience major symmetric (CG and CHG) DNA methylation gains, and by generating an h1/nrpe1 double mutant, we demonstrate these gains are largely independent of RdDM. However, loss of NRPE1 occupancy from a subset of euchromatic regions in h1 experienced corresponding loss of methylation in all sequence contexts, while at ectopically bound heterochromatic loci, NRPE1 deposited methylation specifically in the CHH context. Additionally, we found that H1 restricts the occupancy of the methylation reader and activator complex component, SUVH1, indicating that H1’s regulatory control of methylation pathways is not limited to RdDM. Together, the results support a model whereby H1 helps maintain the exclusivity of heterochromatin by preventing encroachment from other competing pathways.

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Transgenerational effect of mutants in the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway on the triploid block

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