Twenty-four-nucleotide siRNAs produce heritable trans-chromosomal methylation in F1 Arabidopsis hybrids

Ian K. Greaves, Steven R. Eichten, Michael Groszmann, Aihua Wang, Hua Ying, W. James Peacock*, Elizabeth S. Dennis

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    30 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Hybrid Arabidopsis plants undergo epigenetic reprogramming producing decreased levels of 24-nt siRNAs and altered patterns of DNAmethylation that can affect gene expression. Driving the changes in methylation are the processes trans-chromosomal methylation (TCM) and trans-chromosomal demethylation (TCdM). In TCM/TCdM the methylation state of one allele is altered to resemble the other allele.We show that Pol IV-dependent sRNAs are required to establish TCM events. The changes in DNA methylation and the associated changes in sRNA levels in the F1 hybrid can be maintained in subsequent generations and affect hundreds of regions in the F2 epigenome. The inheritance of these altered epigenetic states varies in F2 individuals, resulting in individuals with genetically identical loci displaying different epigenetic states and gene expression profiles. The change in methylation at these regions is associated with the presence of sRNAs. Lociwithout any sRNA activity can have alteredmethylation states, suggesting that a sRNA-independent mechanism may also contribute to the altered methylation state of the F1 and F2 generations.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)E6895-E6902
    JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    Volume113
    Issue number44
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2016

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