Highly Integrated Single-base Resolution Maps of the Epigenome in Arabidopsis

Overview

Journal Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2008 Apr 22

PMID 18423832

Citations 1194

Authors

Ryan Lister

Ronan C OMalley

Julian Tonti-Filippini

Brian D Gregory

Charles C Berry

A Harvey Millar

Joseph R Ecker

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Deciphering the multiple layers of epigenetic regulation that control transcription is critical to understanding how plants develop and respond to their environment. Using sequencing-by-synthesis technology we directly sequenced the cytosine methylome (methylC-seq), transcriptome (mRNA-seq), and small RNA transcriptome (smRNA-seq) to generate highly integrated epigenome maps for wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and mutants defective in DNA methyltransferase or demethylase activity. At single-base resolution we discovered extensive, previously undetected DNA methylation, identified the context and level of methylation at each site, and observed local sequence effects upon methylation state. Deep sequencing of smRNAs revealed a direct relationship between the location of smRNAs and DNA methylation, perturbation of smRNA biogenesis upon loss of CpG DNA methylation, and a tendency for smRNAs to direct strand-specific DNA methylation in regions of RNA-DNA homology. Finally, strand-specific mRNA-seq revealed altered transcript abundance of hundreds of genes, transposons, and unannotated intergenic transcripts upon modification of the DNA methylation state.

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