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Genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation in two Arabidopsis ecotypes and their reciprocal hybrids - small RNA-seq

ABSTRACT: Heterosis is a fundamental biological phenomenon characterized by the superior performance of a hybrid over its parents in many traits, but the underlying molecular basis remains elusive. To investigate whether DNA methylation plays a role in heterosis, we compared at single base-pair resolution the DNA methylomes of Arabidopsis Ler and C24 parental lines and their reciprocal F1 hybrids that exhibited heterosis for many quantitative traits. Both hybrids displayed increased DNA methylation across their entire genomes, especially in transposable elements. Interestingly, we found that increased methylation of the hybrid genomes predominantly occurred in regions that were differentially methylated in the two parents and covered by small RNAs (sRNAs), implying that the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway may direct DNA methylation in hybrids. In addition, we found that 77 genes sensitive to remodeling of DNA methylation were transcriptionally repressed in both reciprocal hybrids, including genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and two circadian oscillator genes, CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1 and LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL. Moreover, growth vigor of F1 hybrids was compromised by treatment with an agent that demethylates DNA, and by abolishing production of functional small RNAs due to mutations in Arabidopsis RNA methyltransferase HUA ENHANCER1. Together, our data suggest that genome-wide remodeling of DNA methylation directed by the RdDM pathway may play a role in hybrid vigor.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE34656 | GEO | 2011/12/22

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA156359

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Hybrid plants and animals grow larger and more vigorously than the parents, a common phenomenon known as hybrid vigor or heterosis. Heterosis often correlates with the genetic distance between hybridizing parents, but the mechanism for this is largely unknown. We found that genetic distance was correlated with natural variation of stress responses under the control of the circadian clock. CIRCADIAN-CLOCK-ASSOCIATED1 (CCA1) and LATE-ELONGATED-HYPOCOTYL (LHY) or CCA1 alone mediate expression amplitudes and periods of these stress-responsive genes in stress and non-stress conditions. In Arabidopsis thaliana intraspecific hybrids, genome-wide expression of many biotic and abiotic stress-responsive genes was diurnally repressed to promote biomass heterosis, which is associated with several biomass quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Expression differences in four selected stress-responsive genes among ten ecotypes could be used to predict heterosis in their hybrids. Parent plants with larger expression differences between stress-responsive genes produced higher-vigor hybrids, while those with smaller differences produced lower-vigor hybrids. Stress-responsive genes were epigenetically repressed in the hybrids under normal conditions but induced during times of stress at certain times of the day, balancing the tradeoff between stress responses and growth. Consistently, repressing the stress genes in diploids increased growth vigor. We demonstrate how hybrids manipulate diurnal stress-responsive gene expression to enhance growth vigor. Both circadian and epigenetic regulation play key roles in the altered expression of stress-responsive genes in hybrids. Our findings provide a conceptual advance and mechanistic understanding of heterosis, as well as selection criteria for parents to be effectively used for producing high-yield hybrids. Examination of gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana F1 hybrids between Col and C24 and 3 time points using mRNA-seq

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Genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation in two Arabidopsis ecotypes and their reciprocal hybrids - small RNA-seq

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