title: Compromised stability of DNA methylation and transposon immobilization in mosaic Arabidopsis epigenomes.
abstract: Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance has been defined by the study of relatively few loci. We examined a population of recombinant inbred lines with epigenetically mosaic chromosomes consisting of wild-type and CG methylation-depleted segments (epiRILs). Surprisingly, transposons that were immobile in the parental lines displayed stochastic movement in 28% of the epiRILs. Although analysis after eight generations of inbreeding, supported by genome-wide DNA methylation profiling, identified recombined parental chromosomal segments, these were interspersed with unexpectedly high frequencies of nonparental methylation polymorphism. Hence, epigenetic inheritance in hybrids derived from parents with divergent epigenomes permits long-lasting epi-allelic interactions that violate Mendelian expectations. Such persistently "unstable" epigenetic states complicate linkage-based epigenomic mapping. Thus, future epigenomic analyses should consider possible genetic instabilities and alternative mapping strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Geneva, Sciences III, Geneva, Switzerland. jon.reinders@unige.ch
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reinders
authors.forename: Brande B H
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Wulff
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirouze
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marí-Ordóñez
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dapp
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rozhon
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bucher
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Theiler
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paszkowski
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D042822:Genomic Instability / Q000235:genetics*; D007178:Inbreeding; D009030:Mosaicism; D010641:Phenotype; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C499608:MET1 protein, Arabidopsis; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases