title: The chromatin remodeler DDM1 promotes hybrid vigor by regulating salicylic acid metabolism.
abstract: In plants, hybrid vigor is influenced by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms; however, the molecular pathways are poorly understood. We investigated the potential contributions of epigenetic regulators to heterosis in Arabidposis and found that the chromatin remodeler DECREASED DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) affects early seedling growth heterosis in Col/C24 hybrids. ddm1 mutants showed impaired heterosis and increased expression of non-additively expressed genes related to salicylic acid metabolism. Interestingly, our data suggest that salicylic acid is a hormetic regulator of seedling growth heterosis, and that hybrid vigor arises from crosses that produce optimal salicylic acid levels. Although DNA methylation failed to correlate with differential non-additively expressed gene expression, we uncovered DDM1 as an epigenetic link between salicylic acid metabolism and heterosis, and propose that the endogenous salicylic acid levels of parental plants can be used to predict the heterotic outcome. Salicylic acid protects plants from pathogens and abiotic stress. Thus, our findings suggest that stress-induced hormesis, which has been associated with increased longevity in other organisms, may underlie specific hybrid vigor traits.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qingzhu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yanqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ashish Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhimin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Lei
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers University , Piscataway, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University , Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhizhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Renyi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Centre for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Jian-Kang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: DDM1; DNA methylation; epigenetics; heterosis; non-additive expression