Genomes must balance active suppression of transposable elements (TEs) with the need to maintain gene expression. In Arabidopsis, euchromatic TEs are targeted by RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). ...Conversely, active DNA demethylation prevents accumulation of methylation at genes proximal to these TEs. It is unknown how a cellular balance between methylation and demethylation activities is achieved. Here we show that both RdDM and DNA demethylation are highly active at a TE proximal to the major DNA demethylase gene ROS1. Unexpectedly, and in contrast to most other genomic targets, expression of ROS1 is promoted by DNA methylation and antagonized by DNA demethylation. We demonstrate that inducing methylation in the ROS1 proximal region is sufficient to restore ROS1 expression in an RdDM mutant. Additionally, methylation-sensitive expression of ROS1 is conserved in other species, suggesting it is adaptive. We propose that the ROS1 locus functions as an epigenetic rheostat, tuning the level of demethylase activity in response to methylation alterations, thus ensuring epigenomic stability.
Epigenetic states are stably propagated in eukaryotes. In plants, DNA methylation patterns are faithfully inherited over many generations but it is unknown how the dynamic activities of cytosine DNA ...methyltransferases and 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylases interact to maintain epigenetic homeostasis. Here we show that a methylation-sensing gene regulatory circuit centered on a 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylase gene is required for long-term epigenetic fidelity in Arabidopsis. Disrupting this circuit causes widespread methylation losses and abnormal phenotypes that progressively worsen over generations. In heterochromatin, these losses are counteracted such that methylation returns to a normal level over four generations. However, thousands of loci in euchromatin progressively lose DNA methylation between generations and remain unmethylated. We conclude that an actively maintained equilibrium between methylation and demethylation activities is required to ensure long-term stable inheritance of epigenetic information.
Cytosine methylation is a reversible epigenetic modification of DNA. In plants, removal of cytosine methylation is accomplished by the four members of the DEMETER (DME) family of 5-methylcytosine DNA ...glycosylases, named DME, DEMETER-LIKE2 (DML2), DML3, and REPRESSOR OF SILENCING1 (ROS1) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Demethylation by DME is critical for seed development, preventing experiments to determine the function of the entire gene family in somatic tissues by mutant analysis. Here, we bypassed the reproductive defects of dme mutants to create somatic quadruple homozygous mutants of the entire DME family. dme; ros1; dml2; and dml3 (drdd) leaves exhibit hypermethylated regions compared with wild-type leaves 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 involves 5'-hypermethylation and transcriptional down-regulation of FLOWERING LOCUS C. Active DNA demethylation is therefore required for proper methylation across somatic tissues and defines the epigenetic landscape of intergenic and coding regions.
Abstract
Background
In several eukaryotes, DNA methylation occurs within the coding regions of many genes, termed gene body methylation (GbM). Whereas the role of DNA methylation on the silencing of ...transposons and repetitive DNA is well understood, gene body methylation is not associated with transcriptional repression, and its biological importance remains unclear.
Results
We report a newly discovered type of GbM in plants, which is under constitutive addition and removal by dynamic methylation modifiers in all cells, including the germline. Methylation at Dynamic GbM genes is removed by the DRDD demethylation pathway and added by an unknown source of de novo methylation, most likely the maintenance methyltransferase MET1. We show that the Dynamic GbM state is present at homologous genes across divergent lineages spanning over 100 million years, indicating evolutionary conservation. We demonstrate that Dynamic GbM is tightly associated with the presence of a promoter or regulatory chromatin state within the gene body, in contrast to other gene body methylated genes. We find Dynamic GbM is associated with enhanced gene expression plasticity across development and diverse physiological conditions, whereas stably methylated GbM genes exhibit reduced plasticity. Dynamic GbM genes exhibit reduced dynamic range in
drdd
mutants, indicating a causal link between DNA demethylation and enhanced gene expression plasticity.
Conclusions
We propose a new model for GbM in regulating gene expression plasticity, including a novel type of GbM in which increased gene expression plasticity is associated with the activity of DNA methylation writers and erasers and the enrichment of a regulatory chromatin state.
Since their endosymbiotic origin, mitochondria have lost most of their genes. Although many selective mechanisms underlying the evolution of mitochondrial genomes have been proposed, a data-driven ...exploration of these hypotheses is lacking, and a quantitatively supported consensus remains absent. We developed HyperTraPS, a methodology coupling stochastic modeling with Bayesian inference, to identify the ordering of evolutionary events and suggest their causes. Using 2015 complete mitochondrial genomes, we inferred evolutionary trajectories of mtDNA gene loss across the eukaryotic tree of life. We find that proteins comprising the structural cores of the electron transport chain are preferentially encoded within mitochondrial genomes across eukaryotes. A combination of high GC content and high protein hydrophobicity is required to explain patterns of mtDNA gene retention; a model that accounts for these selective pressures can also predict the success of artificial gene transfer experiments in vivo. This work provides a general method for data-driven inference of the ordering of evolutionary and progressive events, here identifying the distinct features shaping mitochondrial genomes of present-day species.
Display omitted
•Efficient and generalizable machinery is developed to infer evolutionary pathways•Analysis of >2,000 mtDNA sequences reveals gene loss patterns and predictive features•GC content and hydrophobicity predict patterns of gene loss and experimental outcomes•Energetic centrality of protein product in complexes dictates gene retention in mtDNA
A generalizable stochastic modeling and inference approach is developed to characterize the patterns of mtDNA gene loss throughout evolutionary history and to perform a data-driven comparison of the highly debated hypotheses regarding the forces underlying mtDNA evolution.
Global climate evolution during the last deglaciation Clark, Peter U; Shakun, Jeremy D; Baker, Paul A ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
05/2012, Letnik:
109, Številka:
19
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Deciphering the evolution of global climate from the end of the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 19 ka to the early Holocene 11 ka presents an outstanding opportunity for understanding the ...transient response of Earth’s climate system to external and internal forcings. During this interval of global warming, the decay of ice sheets caused global mean sea level to rise by approximately 80 m; terrestrial and marine ecosystems experienced large disturbances and range shifts; perturbations to the carbon cycle resulted in a net release of the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere; and changes in atmosphere and ocean circulation affected the global distribution and fluxes of water and heat. Here we summarize a major effort by the paleoclimate research community to characterize these changes through the development of well-dated, high-resolution records of the deep and intermediate ocean as well as surface climate. Our synthesis indicates that the superposition of two modes explains much of the variability in regional and global climate during the last deglaciation, with a strong association between the first mode and variations in greenhouse gases, and between the second mode and variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.
Seeds are a key life cycle stage for many plants. Seeds are also the basis of agriculture and the primary source of calories consumed by humans
. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to ...generate a transcriptional atlas of developing Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, with a focus on endosperm. Endosperm, the primary site of gene imprinting in flowering plants, mediates the relationship between the maternal parent and the embryo
. We identify transcriptionally uncharacterized nuclei types in the chalazal endosperm, which interfaces with maternal tissue for nutrient unloading
. We demonstrate that the extent of parental bias of maternally expressed imprinted genes varies with cell-cycle phase, and that imprinting of paternally expressed imprinted genes is strongest in chalazal endosperm. Thus, imprinting is spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Increased paternal expression in the chalazal region suggests that parental conflict, which is proposed to drive imprinting evolution, is fiercest at the boundary between filial and maternal tissues.
Gluconeogenesis is a fundamental metabolic process that allows organisms to make sugars from non-carbohydrate stores such as lipids and protein. In eukaryotes only one gluconeogenic route has been ...described from organic acid intermediates and this relies on the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK). Here we show that two routes exist in Arabidopsis, and that the second uses pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK). Gluconeogenesis is critical to fuel the transition from seed to seedling. Arabidopsis pck1 and ppdk mutants are compromised in seed-storage reserve mobilization and seedling establishment. Radiolabelling studies show that PCK predominantly allows sugars to be made from dicarboxylic acids, which are products of lipid breakdown. However, PPDK also allows sugars to be made from pyruvate, which is a major product of protein breakdown. We propose that both routes have been evolutionarily conserved in plants because, while PCK expends less energy, PPDK is twice as efficient at recovering carbon from pyruvate.
Lack of sufficient water is a major limiting factor to crop production worldwide, and the development of drought-tolerant germplasm is needed to improve crop productivity. The phytohormone ethylene ...modulates plant growth and development as well as plant response to abiotic stress. Recent research has shown that modifying ethylene biosynthesis and signaling can enhance plant drought tolerance. Here, we report novel negative regulators of ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and maize (Zea mays). These regulators are encoded by the ARGOS gene family. In Arabidopsis, overexpression of maizeARGOS1(ZmARGOS1),ZmARGOS8, ArabidopsisARGOShomologORGAN SIZE RELATED1(AtOSR1), andAtOSR2reduced plant sensitivity to ethylene, leading to enhanced drought tolerance. RNA profiling and genetic analysis suggested that theZmARGOS1transgene acts between an ethylene receptor and CONSTITUTIVE TRIPLE RESPONSE1 in the ethylene signaling pathway, affecting ethylene perception or the early stages of ethylene signaling. Overexpressed ZmARGOS1 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi membrane, where the ethylene receptors and the ethylene signaling protein ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE2 and REVERSION-TO-ETHYLENE SENSITIVITY1 reside. In transgenic maize plants, overexpression of ARGOS genes also reduces ethylene sensitivity. Moreover, field testing showed that UBIQUITIN1:ZmARGOS8maize events had a greater grain yield than nontransgenic controls under both drought stress and well-watered conditions.
C4 photosynthesis is a complex phenotype that allows more efficient carbon capture than the ancestral C3 pathway. In leaves of C4 species, hundreds of transcripts increase in abundance compared with ...C3 relatives and become restricted to mesophyll (M) or bundle sheath (BS) cells. However, no mechanism has been reported that regulates the compartmentation of multiple enzymes in M or BS cells. We examined mechanisms regulating CARBONIC ANHYDRASE4 (CA4) in C4
Gynandropsis gynandra. Increased abundance is directed by both the promoter region and introns of the G. gynandra gene. A nine-nucleotide motif located in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) is required for preferential accumulation of GUS in M cells. This element is present and functional in three additional 5′ UTRs and six 3′ UTRs where it determines accumulation of two isoforms of CA and pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase in M cells. Although the GgCA4 5′ UTR is sufficient to direct GUS accumulation in M cells, transcripts encoding GUS are abundant in both M and BS. Mutating the GgCA4 5′ UTR abolishes enrichment of protein in M cells without affecting transcript abundance. The work identifies a mechanism that directs cell-preferential accumulation of multiple enzymes required for C4 photosynthesis.
PDF
