Dataset Information

Histone H1 prevents non-CG methylation-mediated small RNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis heterochromatin

ABSTRACT: Functional genomic states are maintained by reinforcing chromatin interactions that exclude the components of other states. Plant heterochromatin features methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me) and extensive DNA methylation. However, DNA methylation is also catalyzed by a mostly euchromatic small RNA-directed pathway (RdDM) thought to seek H3K9me. How RdDM is excluded from H3K9me-rich heterochromatin is unclear. Here we show that without histone H1, RdDM enters heterochromatin, preferentially at nucleosome linker DNA. Surprisingly, this does not require SHH1, the RdDM component that binds H3K9me. Furthermore, H3K9me is dispensable for RdDM, as is CG DNA methylation. Instead, we find that non-CG methylation is specifically required for small RNA biogenesis, and without H1 small RNA production quantitatively expands to non-CG methylated loci. Our results demonstrate that H1 enforces the separation of euchromatic and heterochromatic DNA methylation pathways by excluding the small RNA-generating branch of RdDM from non-CG methylated heterochromatin.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE179796 | GEO | 2021/12/01

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

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.

Dataset Information

Histone H1 prevents non-CG methylation-mediated small RNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis heterochromatin

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets