title: Methylome analysis reveals an important role for epigenetic changes in the regulation of the Arabidopsis response to phosphate starvation.
abstract: Phosphate (Pi) availability is a significant limiting factor for plant growth and productivity in both natural and agricultural systems. To cope with such limiting conditions, plants have evolved a myriad of developmental and biochemical strategies to enhance the efficiency of Pi acquisition and assimilation to avoid nutrient starvation. In the past decade, these responses have been studied in detail at the level of gene expression; however, the possible epigenetic components modulating plant Pi starvation responses have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we report that an extensive remodeling of global DNA methylation occurs in Arabidopsis plants exposed to low Pi availability, and in many instances, this effect is related to changes in gene expression. Modifications in methylation patterns within genic regions were often associated with transcriptional activation or repression, revealing the important role of dynamic methylation changes in modulating the expression of genes in response to Pi starvation. Moreover, Arabidopsis mutants affected in DNA methylation showed that changes in DNA methylation patterns are required for the accurate regulation of a number of Pi-starvation-responsive genes and that DNA methylation is necessary to establish proper morphological and physiological phosphate starvation responses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Lenin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yong-Villalobos
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Sandra Isabel
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: González-Morales
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidad de Guanajuato, 36000 Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Kazimierz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wrobel
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México; Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 62250 Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Alanis
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Sergio Alan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Cervantes-Peréz
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Corina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hayano-Kanashiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Araceli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oropeza-Aburto
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cruz-Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México;
authors.forename: Octavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (Langebio)/Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 36500 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México; lherrera@langebio.cinvestav.mx.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Herrera-Estrella
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009154:Mutation; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D010710:Phosphates; C499608:MET1 protein, Arabidopsis; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases
keywords: DNA methylation; abiotic stress; epigenetics; methylome; phosphate