|
Imprinting of plants over generations
|
| Science, 23 January 2004 |
| Kakutani Laboratory, Division of Agricultural Genetics |
One-way Control of FWA Imprinting in Arabidopsis Endosperm by DNA Methylation.
Kinoshita T, Miura A, Choi Y, Kinoshita Y, Cao X, Jacobsen SE, Fischer RL, and Kakutani T.
Science 303, 521-523, 2004
The Arabidopsis FWA gene was initially identified from late flowering epigenetic mutants that show ectopic FWA expression due to heritable hypomethylation of repeats around transcription starting site. Here we show that wild type FWA displays imprinted (maternal-origin-specific) expression in endosperm. The FWA imprint depends on the maintenance DNA methyltransferase MET1, as is the case in mammals. Unlike mammals, however, the FWA imprint is not established by allele-specific de novo methylation. It is established by maternal gametophyte-specific gene activation, which depends on a DNA glycosylase gene, DEMETER. Since endosperm does not contribute to the next generation, the activated FWA gene need not be silenced again. Double fertilization enables plants to use such ‘one-way’ control of imprinting and DNA methylation in endosperm.
Entrez PubMed
Science, Perspective |
|
