BS-seq of Arabidopsis pol2a mutants, of related mutants combinations and of WT and pol2a plants treated with hydroxyurea
DNA replication requires the faithful propagation of both genetic and epigenetic information. There is evidence that DNA polymerases play a role in transcriptional silencing, but the extent of their contribution and how it relates to heterochromatin maintenance is unclear. Analyzing a new hypomorphic pol2a mutant allele, we find that POL2A, the catalytic subunit of the DNA polymerase epsilon, maintains heterochromatin silencing and nuclear organization. Here, we profiled the DNA methylation landscape using BS-seq in various pol2a mutant alleles in Arabidopsis, in combination or not with other silencing and methyltransferase mutants. We also generated methylomes of wild-type and pol2a mutants exposed to hydroxyurea, to explore the consequences of replicative stress onto DNA methylation maintenance.