5' end methylomes of natural and synthetic wheat
Wheat (Aegilops/Triticum complex) includes species with diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid genomes. The process of hexaploidization is linked to domestication and is assumed to provide 'fixed heterosis' and increase wheat adaptability. DNA methylation has been hypothesized to participate in the polyploid formation, and more specifically, to drive transcriptomic reprogramming in nascent polyploids, leading to differential expression (in comparisons to parents), subgenome dominance, and homeolog expression imbalance. To investigate these effects, we coupled a target-capture protocol (focusing on transcription start sites and start codons) with bisulfite sequencing, and produced data from the developing endosperm of natural bread wheat cultivar Recital, several synthetic wheat allohexaploids, and their parental genotypes (tetraploid durum cultivar Langdon; two diploid Aegilops tauschii genotypes).