title: An epiallele of rice AK1 affects photosynthetic capacity.
abstract: Epigenetic gene variants, termed epialleles, can broaden genetic and phenotypic diversity in eukaryotes. Here, we identify a natural epiallele of OsAK1, which encodes a rice adenylate kinase. The Epi-ak1 plants show albino in young leaf and panicle with abnormal chloroplast structures. We found that no nucleotide sequence variation but hypermethylation at promoter region caused silencing of OsAK1 (Os08g01770) in Epi-ak1 plants. OsAK1 localizes to chloroplast and many genes associated with photosynthesis processes were downregulated in Epi-ak1. Thus, the work identified a novel rice epiallele caused by DNA methylation changes, shedding light on significant roles of DNA methylation on rice development.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
authors.forename: Xiangjin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xianwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, Hebei, China.
authors.forename: Liya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
authors.forename: Shaoqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
authors.forename: Peisong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000263:Adenylate Kinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000263:Adenylate Kinase