title: Involvement of Multiple Gene-Silencing Pathways in a Paramutation-like Phenomenon in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Paramutation is an epigenetic phenomenon that has been observed in a number of multicellular organisms. The epigenetically silenced state of paramutated alleles is not only meiotically stable but also "infectious" to active homologous alleles. The molecular mechanism of paramutation remains unclear, but components involved in RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) are required. Here, we report a multi-copy pRD29A-LUC transgene in Arabidopsis thaliana that behaves like a paramutation locus. The silent state of LUC is induced by mutations in the DNA glycosylase gene ROS1. The silent alleles of LUC are not only meiotically stable but also able to transform active LUC alleles into silent ones, in the absence of ros1 mutations. Maintaining silencing at the LUC gene requires action of multiple pathways besides RdDM. Our study identified specific factors that are involved in the paramutation-like phenomenon and established a model system for the study of paramutation in Arabidopsis.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China. Electronic address: zmzheng@sibs.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhimin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China.
authors.forename: Hasi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China.
authors.forename: Qingzhu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Huanghuai Region), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Daizong Road No. 61, Tai'an 271018, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Zhizhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China. Electronic address: zhangheng@sibs.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 210602, China; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Jian-Kang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020868:Gene Silencing; D017343:Genes, Plant; D009154:Mutation; D019076:Transgenes