title: An S-adenosyl Methionine Synthetase (SAMS) Gene fromAndropogon virginicusL. Confers Aluminum Stress Tolerance and Facilitates Epigenetic Gene Regulation inArabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Candidate clones which conferred Al tolerance to yeast transformants (TFs) were obtained from a cDNA library derived from a highly Al-tolerant poaceae,Andropogon virginicusL. One such clone, AL3A-4, encoded an S-adenosyl methionine synthetase (SAMS) gene. A full-length cDNA was obtained by 5'-RACE, designatedAvSAMS1, and introduced intoArabidopsis thalianato investigate its biological functions under Al stress. Two TF plant lines both showed higher tolerance than the Col-0 ecotype (non-TF) not only for Al stress, but also for Cu, Pb, Zn and diamide stresses, suggesting theAvSAMS1was a multiple tolerance gene. More than 40 ofA. thalianaAl response-genes (Al induced genes and Al repressed genes) were selected from microarray results and then used for investigations of DNA or histone methylation status under Al stress in Col-0 and theAvSAMS1TF line. The results indicated that Al stress caused alterations of methylation status in both DNA and histone H3 (H3K4me3 and H3K9me3) and that these alterations were different between theAvSAMS1TF and Col-0, suggesting the differences wereAvSAMS1-gene dependent. These results suggested the existence ofAvSAMS1-related epigenetic gene-regulation under Al stress.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University Kurashiki, Japan.
authors.forename: Bunichi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ezaki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University Kurashiki, Japan.
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University Kurashiki, Japan.
authors.forename: Norie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nanba
authors.affiliation: Institute for Gene Research, Kanazawa University Kanazawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishiuchi
keywords: AvSAMS1 gene; DNA methylation; aluminum (Al) stress; epigenetic gene-regulation; histone H3 methylation; microarray analysis; multiple abiotic stress tolerance