title: Transgenerational epigenetic instability is a source of novel methylation variants.
abstract: Epigenetic information, which may affect an organism's phenotype, can be stored and stably inherited in the form of cytosine DNA methylation. Changes in DNA methylation can produce meiotically stable epialleles that affect transcription and morphology, but the rates of spontaneous gain or loss of DNA methylation are unknown. We examined spontaneously occurring variation in DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana plants propagated by single-seed descent for 30 generations. We identified 114,287 CG single methylation polymorphisms and 2485 CG differentially methylated regions (DMRs), both of which show patterns of divergence compared with the ancestral state. Thus, transgenerational epigenetic variation in DNA methylation may generate new allelic states that alter transcription, providing a mechanism for phenotypic diversity in the absence of genetic mutation.
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: Mathew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Lewsey
authors.forename: Ronan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: O'Malley
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Urich
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Libiger
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Schork
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ecker
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant; D016014:Linear Models; D009154:Mutation; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D018744:DNA, Plant; D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates; C015772:CpG dinucleotide