title: A Stress-Activated Transposon in Arabidopsis Induces Transgenerational Abscisic Acid Insensitivity.
abstract: Transposable elements (TEs), or transposons, play an important role in adaptation. TE insertion can affect host gene function and provides a mechanism for rapid increases in genetic diversity, particularly because many TEs respond to environmental stress. In the current study, we show that the transposition of a heat-activated retrotransposon, ONSEN, generated a mutation in an abscisic acid (ABA) responsive gene, resulting in an ABA-insensitive phenotype in Arabidopsis, suggesting stress tolerance. Our results provide direct evidence that a transposon activated by environmental stress could alter the genome in a potentially positive manner. Furthermore, the ABA-insensitive phenotype was inherited when the transcription was disrupted by an ONSEN insertion, whereas ABA sensitivity was recovered when the effects of ONSEN were masked by IBM2. These results suggest that epigenetic mechanisms in host plants typically buffered the effect of a new insertion, but could selectively "turn on" TEs when stressed.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Jong-Myong
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.affiliation: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna-son, 904-0495, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saze
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.affiliation: RIKEN IMS-RCAI, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaho A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna-son, 904-0495, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Harukawa
authors.affiliation: Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Kitakami 024-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.affiliation: Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Kitakami 024-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yaegashi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masuta
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Maho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.|Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 244-0813, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Taeko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morosawa
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Advanced Center for Computing and Communication, Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyoda
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 411-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakutani
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomic Network Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.|Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 244-0813, Japan.|Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seki
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018626:Retroelements; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018744:DNA, Plant; D018626:Retroelements; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D000040:Abscisic Acid