Establishing epigenetic variation during genome reprogramming

Borges, F., Martienssen, R. A. (April 2013) Establishing epigenetic variation during genome reprogramming. RNA Biology, 10 (4). pp. 490-4. ISSN 1555-8584 (Electronic)1547-6286 (Linking)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23774895
DOI: 10.4161/rna.24085

Abstract

Transgenerational reprogramming of DNA methylation is important for transposon silencing and epigenetic inheritance. A stochastic regulation of methylation states in the germline may lead to epigenetic variation and the formation of epialleles that contribute to phenotypic variation. In Arabidopsis thaliana inbred lines, the frequency of single base variation of DNA methylation is much higher than genetic mutation and, interestingly, variable epialleles are pre-methylated in the male germline. However, these same alleles are targeted for demethylation in the pollen vegetative nucleus, by a mechanism that seems to contribute to the accumulation of small RNAs that reinforce transcriptional gene silencing in the gametes. These observations are paving the way toward understanding the extent of epigenetic reprogramming in higher plants, and the mechanisms regulating the stability of acquired epigenetic states across generations.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > epigenetics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > epigenetics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > genomes
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Martienssen lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 1 April 2013
Date Deposited: 28 Jun 2013 15:54
Last Modified: 09 Apr 2014 18:56
PMCID: PMC3710355
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/28388

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