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Somatic DNA demethylation generates tissue-specific methylation states and impacts flowering time [BiSulfite-seq]

ABSTRACT: Cytosine methylation is a reversible epigenetic modification to DNA. In plants, removal of cytosine methylation is accomplished by the four members of the DME family of 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylases. Demethylation by DME is critical for seed development. Consequently, determining the function of the entire gene family in somatic tissues by mutant analysis has not been possible. Here, we bypassed the reproductive defects of dme mutants to create somatic quadruple homozygous mutants of the entire DME family. dme; ros1; dml2; dml3 (drdd) leaves exhibit hypermethylated genomes compared to both wild-type plants and rdd triple mutants, indicating functional redundancy among all four demethylases. Targets of demethylation include regions co-targeted by RNA-directed DNA methylation and, surprisingly, CG gene body methylation, indicating dynamic methylation at these less-understood sites. Additionally, many tissue-specific methylation differences are absent in drdd, suggesting a role for active demethylation in generating divergent epigenetic states across wild-type tissues. Furthermore, drdd plants display an early flowering phenotype, which is correlated with 5’ hypermethylation and transcriptional down-regulation of FLOWERING LOCUS C. Active DNA demethylation is therefore required for proper methylation patterning across somatic tissues and defines the epigenetic landscape of both intergenic and coding regions.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE191006 | GEO | 2021/12/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:H2A.X is an H2A variant histone in eukaryotes, unique for its ability to respond to DNA damage, initiating the DNA repair pathway. H2A.X replacement within the histone octamer is mediated by the FAcilitates Chromatin Transactions (FACT) complex, a key chromatin remodeler. FACT is required for DEMETER (DME)-mediated DNA demethylation at certain loci in Arabidopsis thaliana female gametophytes during reproduction. Here, we sought to investigate whether H2A.X is involved in DME- and FACT-mediated DNA demethylation during reproduction. H2A.X is encoded by two genes in Arabidopsis genome, HTA3 and HTA5. We generated h2a.x double mutants, which displayed a normal growth profile, whereby flowering time, seed development, and root tip organization, S-phase progression and proliferation were all normal. However, h2a.x mutants were more sensitive to genotoxic stress, consistent with previous reports. H2A.X fused to Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) under the H2A.X promoter was highly expressed especially in newly developing Arabidopsis tissues, including in male and female gametophytes, where DME is also expressed. We examined DNA methylation in h2a.x developing seeds and seedlings using whole genome bisulfite sequencing, and found that CG DNA methylation is decreased genome-wide in h2a.x mutant seeds. Hypomethylation was most striking in transposon bodies, and occurred on both parental alleles in the developing endosperm, but not the embryo or seedling. h2a.x-mediated hypomethylated sites overlapped DME targets, but also included other loci, predominately located in heterochromatic transposons and intergenic DNA. Our genome-wide methylation analyses suggest that H2A.X could function in preventing access of the DME demethylase to non-canonical sites. Alternatively, H2A.X may be involved in recruiting methyltransferases to those sites. Overall, our data show that H2A.X is required to maintain DNA methylation homeostasis in the unique chromatin environment of the Arabidopsis endosperm.

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Somatic DNA demethylation generates tissue-specific methylation states and impacts flowering time [BiSulfite-seq]

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