Evolutionary and Experimental Loss of Gene Body Methylation and Its Consequence to Gene Expression

G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics

关键词: DNA methylation;    gene body methylation;    gene expression;    epigenetics;   

DOI  :  10.1534/g3.119.400365

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In flowering plants, gene body methylation (gbM) is associated with a subset of constitutively expressed genes. It has been proposed that gbM modulates gene expression. Here, we show that there are no consistent and direct differences to expression following the loss of gbM. By comparing expression of gbM genes in Arabidopsis thaliana accessions to orthologous genes in two Eutrema salsugineum genotypes, we identified both positive and negative expression differences associated with gbM loss. However, expression is largely unaffected by gbM loss in E. salsugineum. Expression differences between species were within the variation of expression observed within A. thaliana accessions that displayed variation in gbM. Furthermore, experimentally induced loss of gbM did not consistently lead to differences in expression compared to wild type. To date, there is no convincing data to support a direct causal link between the presence/absence of gbM and the modulation of expression in flowering plants.

【 授权许可】

Unknown