title: Domains rearranged methyltransferase3 controls DNA methylation and regulates RNA polymerase V transcript abundance in Arabidopsis.
abstract: DNA methylation is a mechanism of epigenetic gene regulation and genome defense conserved in many eukaryotic organisms. In Arabidopsis, the DNA methyltransferase domains rearranged methylase 2 (DRM2) controls RNA-directed DNA methylation in a pathway that also involves the plant-specific RNA Polymerase V (Pol V). Additionally, the Arabidopsis genome encodes an evolutionarily conserved but catalytically inactive DNA methyltransferase, DRM3. Here, we show that DRM3 has moderate effects on global DNA methylation and small RNA abundance and that DRM3 physically interacts with Pol V. In Arabidopsis drm3 mutants, we observe a lower level of Pol V-dependent noncoding RNA transcripts even though Pol V chromatin occupancy is increased at many sites in the genome. These findings suggest that DRM3 acts to promote Pol V transcriptional elongation or assist in the stabilization of Pol V transcripts. This work sheds further light on the mechanism by which long noncoding RNAs facilitate RNA-directed DNA methylation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; Laboratory of Genetics, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; jacobsen@ucla.edu xzhong28@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Xuehua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Minh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Basic Forestry and Biotechnology Center, Fujian University of Forestry and Agriculture, Fuzhou 350002, China;
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ausin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hetzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and.
authors.forename: Ajay A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Vashisht
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wohlschlegel
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 jacobsen@ucla.edu xzhong28@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000502:physiology*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D008780:Methyltransferases; C470732:DRM2 protein, Arabidopsis; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
keywords: DNA methylation; RNA polymerase; epigenetic regulation; gene silencing; non-coding RNA