5-azaC对小麦幼苗生长及盐胁迫后DNA甲基化变异的影响

DNA甲基化是调节植物生长发育,调控逆境基因表达的表观遗传机制之一。该研究采用不同浓度的DNA甲基化抑制剂5-azaC处理耐盐性不同的春小麦种子,分析其对种子萌发及盐胁迫后叶片基因组DNA甲基化的影响,探究DNA甲基化与小麦耐盐性之间的相关性。结果表明:(1)5-azaC显著抑制幼苗根长伸长,降低根系鲜重和干重。(2)甲基化敏感扩增多态性(MSAP)分析发现,单独盐胁迫后甲基化水平上升, 5-azaC预处理材料经盐胁迫后甲基化水平呈下降趋势。(3)盐胁迫后基因组同时发生DNA去甲基化和DNA甲基化。敏盐品种‘新春6号’DNA去甲基化比率上升,DNA甲基化增加的比率下降;耐盐品种‘新春11号’DNA去甲基化比率和DNA甲基化增加的比率均上升,但去甲基化比率大于DNA甲基化增加的比率,说明盐胁迫引起的基因组DNA去甲基化为主,5-azaC预处理提高了盐胁迫下DNA去甲基化的比率。(4)DNA甲基化修饰位点序列分析发现,在核糖体亚基蛋白、蛋白激酶和转座子序列均存在DNA甲基化修饰现象,说明存在多种代谢途径共同参与了盐胁迫调控。     

氮胁迫下高羊茅基因组DNA甲基化的MSAP分析

高羊茅是一种重要的禾本科牧草,尽管其具有良好的耐寒耐热性,但其生长发育过程受外界氮素浓度的直接影响。DNA甲基化作为一种表观遗传调控方式在植物抵御逆境胁迫中起到至关重要的作用。本研究以高羊茅为试验材料,经无氮胁迫15 d后,以未经氮胁迫为对照,对基因组DNA甲基化的变化进行甲基化敏感扩增多态性(MSAP)分析。结果表明:无氮处理15 d后,植株生长受到强烈地抑制,且叶片大面积发黄;MSAP分析选用12对选扩引物,共检测到725个基因位点,其中发生甲基化和去甲基化的位点占16.4%;对照组和氮胁迫组总甲基化水平分别是65.56%和65.47%,显示氮胁迫15 d高羊茅基因组DNA总的甲基化水平未发生显著变化。对15条标记带进行克隆并测序,成功获得14条不同变化类型的序列,这些序列与禾本科植物具有较高的同源性,推测氮胁迫下的高羊茅基因组甲基化可能发生在编码区域。综上,高羊茅对环境的适应性调节可能与氮胁迫诱导的甲基化的变化有关。     

马哈利樱桃矮化砧的DNA甲基化水平及模式分析

该研究利用MSAP技术,对25株矮化马哈利樱桃和25株半矮化马哈利樱桃进行甲基化水平和模式分析,以探讨其矮化的表观性状与其基因组甲基化修饰的关系。结果表明:(1)从64对引物中筛选出15对引物,在半矮化组中共扩增4 577个条带,其中半甲基化336个,全甲基化1 274个;在矮化组中共扩增4 444个条带,其中半甲基化349个,全甲基化1 383个;t检验和方差分析表明,矮化组与半矮化组在总甲基化水平和全甲基化水平上差异极显著,在半甲基化水平上差异显著,矮化组甲基化水平高于半矮化组。(2)半矮化组单态性位点23个,多态性位点136个;矮化组单态性位点17个,多态性位点142个,表明矮化组多态性高于半矮化组。(3)多态性类型分析表明,矮化组出现A4类型的频率较半矮化组高,A2类型的频率较半矮化组低,即矮化组中发生超甲基化的位点多于半矮化组,且‘马哈利’基因组甲基化多态性位点主要发生在双链内侧甲基化位点以及超甲基化位点上。研究认为,马哈利樱桃矮化和半矮化的基因组甲基化水平及模式存在差异,马哈利砧木的矮化性状与其基因组甲基化修饰有关。     

孝顺竹开花过程中DNA甲基化水平动态研究

以孝顺竹为材料,利用HPLC和MSAP技术在其未开花至开花的生长过程中进行甲基化水平的检测,分析竹子开花过程中基因组DNA甲基化的动态,以揭示DNA甲基化水平与竹子开花现象的相关性。结果显示:(1)孝顺竹基因组DNA甲基化率在不同的时间处于动态变化中,进入开花状态的孝顺竹植株其甲基化水平极显著低于开花竹丛中未开花植株和未开花竹丛;开花和未开花植株的总甲基化率分别为9.00%和12.42%,全甲基化率分别为5.06%和7.53%。(2)MSAP位点中有66.83%的位点在开花和未开花材料中甲基化状态保持一致,33.17%的位点在开花和未开花植株中发生甲基化变化:其中22.28%的位点在开花植株中发生完全的去甲基化,1.98%的谱带在开花植株中发生甲基化,8.91%的位点在开花和未开花材料中甲基化水平呈现上升或降低的趋势。研究表明,开花的孝顺竹同时发生甲基化和去甲基化,但发生去甲基化的概率明显大于发生甲基化的概率,最终导致其甲基化水平极显著降低。     

镉胁迫下萝卜基因组DNA甲基化敏感扩增多态性分析

应用甲基化敏感扩增多态性(MSAP)技术分析了重金属镉(cd)胁迫处理后萝卜基因组DNA甲基化程度的变化。结果表明,经50、250和500mg/L CdCl_2处理后,MSAP比率分别为37%、43%和51%,均高于对照(34%);全甲基化率(双链C~mCGG)分别为23%、25%和27%,而其对照为22%,表明重金属CdCl_2胁迫后,某些位点发生了重新甲基化。萝卜叶片DNA中总甲基化水平的增加与CdCl_2处理浓度呈显著正相关。甲基化变异可分为重新甲基化、去甲基化、不定类型以及与对照相同的甲基化模式等类型,Cd胁迫处理引起的植株基因组DNA甲基化程度的提高主要是重新甲基化。     

红豆杉脱分化过程中的遗传和表观遗传变异

采用扩增片段长度多态性（AFLP）和甲基化敏感扩增多态性（MSAP）技术分析红豆杉脱分化前后基因组DNA和DNA甲基化状态的变化。选用32个AFLP引物组合从红豆杉植株及其愈伤组织分别扩增出1834个片段,无多态性片段产生。这说明红豆杉植株在诱导形成愈伤组织的过程中基因组DNA保持高度的遗传稳定性。另用32个MSAP引物组合从红豆杉植株及其愈伤组织分别扩增出1197个片段,总扩增位点的甲基化水平由脱分化前的12．4％上升为16．2％,表明红豆杉在脱分化过程中的某些位点发生了甲基化。红豆杉脱分化前后的DNA甲基化模式也存在较大差异,说明DNA甲基化对愈伤组织形成有调控作用。     

不同倍性西瓜基因组DNA甲基化水平与模式的MSAP分析

DNA甲基化是表观遗传修饰的主要方式之一,在基因表达调控中发挥重要作用。本研究以不同倍性（2x、3x、4x）西瓜为试材,采用基于DNA甲基化敏感酶的扩增多态性分析（Methylation-Sensitive Ampliftcation Polymorphism,MSAP）方法,在全基因组水平上探究西瓜同源多倍化过程中DNA序列中CCGG位点的甲基化水平及模式变化特征。研究中选用23对选扩引物,共检测到1883个基因位点。二倍体、三倍体、四倍体中检测到的位点数分别为647、655和581;其中发生甲基化的位点数分别为181、150和159。相应的扩增总甲基化率分别为28．0％、22．9％和27．4％：全甲基化位点数分别为121、80和82,相应的全甲基化率分别为18．7％、12．2％和14．1％。进一步对不同倍性西瓜DNA甲基化模式的变化特征进行分析,结果显示：四倍体西瓜与二倍体西瓜相比有超过半数的位点（54．4％）DNA甲基化模式发生了变化,其与三倍体西瓜相比也有近一半的位点（45．4％）DNA甲基化模式发生了变化,并且变化趋势都以四倍体西瓜甲基化程度升高为主：而三倍体西瓜与二倍体西瓜相比．虽然也有41．6％的位点DNA甲基化模式发生了改变,但变化趋势以三倍体西瓜甲基化程度降低略占优势：与之相似,三倍体西瓜与四倍体相比较。甲基化的变化趋势也是以三倍体西瓜甲基化程度降低为主。以上结果表明：不同倍性西瓜中DNA甲基化事件虽均有发生．但不论是从总甲基化率还是全甲基化率来看,DNA甲基化水平与倍性高低关系不大．三倍体西瓜表现出较为显著的低甲基化水平特征。DNA甲基化模式的分析也表明。与二倍体及四倍体西瓜相比．三倍体西瓜DNA甲基化模式的调整主要以去甲基化为主。显示出三倍体西瓜基因组独特的DNA甲基化特征。本研究为进一步从表观遗传学的角度探讨西瓜的三倍体优?     

不同生理年龄毛竹DNA甲基化的MSAP分析

为分析竹子年龄变化与基因组DNA甲基化之间的相关性,以5年、31年和>60年起源(从种子萌发年龄算起)的毛竹当年生叶片为材料,采用35对引物对其进行MSAP检测。结果表明:3个年龄段的总甲基化率和全甲基化率分别为24.44%、28.21%、32.12%和16.57%、19.41%、21.23%;发生DNA甲基化的变异位点为52.3%,去甲基化变异位点为10.3%。可以看出,随着年龄的增加,毛竹基因组DNA甲基化敏感多态性呈上升趋势。总甲基化率单因素方差分析的结果表明相同年龄的毛竹个体间没有差异(P=0.307>0.05),而不同年龄间的差异达极显著水平(P<0.001)。同时,对所用引物组合进行分析后发现有6对引物(E3/HM2、E3/HM6、E3/HM7、E4/HM5、E4/HM6和E5/HM5)扩增出的位点与总趋势显著相关,为进一步开展深入研究奠定基础。     

离散增量结合二次判别分析预测人类DNA甲基化位点

DNA甲基化作为直接作用于DNA序列的一种表观遗传修饰,能够在不改变DNA分子一级结构的情况下影响基因表达,在生命活动中扮演着重要的角色.在哺乳动物中,DNA甲基化主要发生在C_pG二核苷酸的胞嘧啶上,并且在基因组中呈现不均匀分布.准确预测DNA甲基化位点有助于阐明DNA甲基化对基因表达的调控作用,并为肿瘤的早期诊断及治疗提供新的依据.本文应用离散增量结合二次判别分析的方法,对人类的C_pG二核苷酸甲基化状态进行了识别.5折交叉检验的整体准确率超过了80%,受试者操作特性曲线面积也达到了0.86.与现有方法相比,预测成功率显著提高.这说明离散增量结合二次判别分析方法适用于甲基化位点的预测;基因组序列中甲基化位点具有序列依赖性.     

转基因白桦不同月份叶片基因组DNA甲基化水平的变异

目的：以转坛￡抗虫基因白桦的不同月份叶片为实验材料,揭示基因组DNA甲基化水平与植物叶片发育及外源基因表达水平之间的相关性。方法：应用DNA-MSAP方法检测叶片基因组DNACCGG位点甲基化状态,利用Northern杂交技术分析其外源基因表达水平。结果：转基因白桦叶片基因组DNA同年5～9月总甲基化水平分别为21．95％、29．62％、25．41％、41.39％和47．24％,除7月份稍有波动外,整体呈现随着叶片的成熟和衰老渐升高趋势;全部扩增位点中,半、全甲基化位点比例分别为17．99％和15．19％,在各月份叶片中变化较大,其中半甲基化位点比例分别为10．37％、19．14％、14．92％、17．2％和28．83％,全甲基化位点比例依次为11．58％、10．49％、10．50％、24．11％和18．40％。同一无性系外源基因在当年5～7月表达量最高,8～9月呈下降趋势,与基因组甲基化状态呈负相关趋势。结论：转基因白桦叶片的成熟和衰老及外源基因表达量降低均可能与基因组DNA甲基化水平的升高相关。     

DNA methylation changes detected by methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism in two contrasting rice genotypes under salt stress

DNA methylation,one of the most important epigenetic phenomena,plays a vital role in tuning gene expression during plant development as well as in response to environmental stimuli.In the present study,a rnethylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) analysis was performed to profile DNA methylation changes in two contrasting rice genotypes under salt stress.Consistent with visibly different phenotypes in response to salt stress,epigenetic markers classified as stable inter-cultivar DNA methylation differences were determined between salttolerant FL478 and salt-sensitive IR29.In addition,most tissue-specific DNA methylation loci were conserved,while many of the growth stage-dependent DNA methylation loci were dynamic between the two genotypes.Strikingly,salt stress induced a decrease in DNA methylation specifically in roots at the seedling stage that was more profound in IR29 than in the FL478.This result may indicate that demethylation of genes is an active epigenetic response to salt stress in roots at the seedling stage,and helps to further elucidate the implications of DNA methylation in crop growth and development.     

DNA methylation alterations of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) in response to cold stress

DNA methylation plays an important role in regulating gene expression in plants. In the experiment, we studied effects of cold on DNA methylation variation in upland cotton. Using the methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism procedure, we chose 66 pairs of selective amplification primers to assess the status and levels of cytosine methylation. The hemimethylation of the external cytosine and the full methylation of the internal cytosine were scored. As a result, cold triggered the demethylation of hemimethylated or internally full methylated cytosine. With the prolongation of cold treatment, the demethylation loci increased and the methylation loci decreased. Nevertheless, this change could be reverted when cotton was subsequently recovered under normal temperature. In addition, 29 polymorphic bands that appeared in the electrophoretogram were sequenced. By homologous alignment analysis, most of these 29 fragments were identified as genes or DNA clones involved in abiotic stress response. The variation in methylation loci existed at both coding and non-coding regions. Furthermore, the expression of the abiotic stress-related genes, GhCLSD (Seq21), GhARK (Seq22), GhARM (Seq15, Seq18, Seq19 and Seq21) and GhTPS (Seq8), were tested. The results revealed that cold treatment induced down-regulation of GhCLSD, GhARK and GhARM, but up-regulated the expression of GhTPS. These changes were in accordance with the alteration of DNA methylation. Thus, cold may affect the gene expression via changing the methylation status in the cytosine nucleotide.     

不同耐盐品种棉花根系主要指标对盐分胁迫的响应

以盐敏感品种‘中棉所45’(CCRI45)、弱耐盐品种‘新陆早17号’(XLZ17)、中等耐盐品种‘新陆早13号’(XLZ13)和耐盐品种‘中棉所35’(CCRI35)为试验材料,利用根系分析系统研究盐分胁迫下棉花根系形态特征及其与棉株耐盐性的关系.结果表明:盐分胁迫显著降低棉花根和叶的干质量以及K^+/Na^+,其中耐盐品种CCRI35和中等耐盐品种XLZ13的根干质量、叶干质量以及根中K^+/Na^+分别比盐敏感品种CCRI45提高了69.3%~104.4%、24.8%~45.3%和25.0%~45.8%;盐分胁迫显著抑制棉花根系生长发育,其中CCRI 35和XLZ13的总根长、根系总表面积、根系总体积以及0~10 cm土层中直径为0~1.2 mm内的根长、根表面积和根体积均显著高于CCRI45,分别增加了15.2%~85.8%、12.0%~68.5%、31.7%~217.8%、27.2%~73.9%、39.6%~74.3%和99.0%~309.7%.主成分分析表明,比根长、浅层根长比例和细根比例受基因型差异的影响较为明显,是区分不同耐盐品种棉花根系形态差异的主要指标.逐步回归分析显示,比根长、0~10 cm土层的粗根根长、细根根表面积、粗根根表面积、粗根体积、中根比例,以及10~20 cm粗根根长、粗根表面积、粗根体积等根系参数对盐分响应敏感.耐盐棉花品种可通过维持表层根长比例、细根比例和比根长的增加来适应盐分胁迫.     

The Effect of DNA CpG Methylation on the Dynamic Conformation of a Nucleosome

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark that is known to induce chromatin condensation and gene silencing. We used a time-domain fluorescence lifetime measurement to quantify the effects of DNA hypermethylation on the conformation and dynamics of a nucleosome. Nucleosomes reconstituted on an unmethylated and a methylated DNA both exhibit dynamic conformations under physiological conditions. The DNA end breathing motion and the H2A-H2B dimer destabilization dominate the dynamic behavior of nucleosomes at low to medium ionic strength. Extensive DNA CpG methylation, surprisingly, does not help to restrain the DNA breathing motion, but facilitates the formation of a more open nucleosome conformation. The presence of the divalent cation, Mg²⁺, essential for chromatin compaction, and the methyl donor molecule SAM, required for DNA methyltransferase reaction, facilitate the compaction of both types of nucleosomes. The difference between the unmethylated and the methylated nucleosome persists within a broad range of salt concentrations, but vanishes under high magnesium concentrations. Reduced DNA backbone rigidity due to the presence of methyl groups is believed to contribute to the observed structural and dynamic differences. The observation of this study suggests that DNA methylation alone does not compact chromatin at the nucleosomal level and provides molecular details to understand the regulatory role of DNA methylation in gene expression.     

草鱼全同胞鱼苗不同个体甲基化位点的差异

本研究通过甲基化敏感扩增多态性(Methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism)对一对草鱼亲本的20个子代甲基化位点进行了研究。从20对引物组合中扩增出311个位点,其中甲基化位点236个,占总扩增位点的75.9%,表明草鱼水花期基因组甲基化水平已经很高,说明它们大部分组织分化基本完成;其中甲基化多态位点65个,占甲基化位点的27.5%,说明这些子代草鱼甲基化位点已经有相当的差异。对其他两对亲本的后代用六个引物组合扩增的结果表明,同一亲本的子代在甲基化模式上有差异可能是普遍现象。本研究结果说明,即使来自同一对草鱼亲本的不同子代个体在基因表达上也有较大的差异,因此很多性状在草鱼后代的分离和一些基因表达的改变有一定的关系。     

DNA Methylation Alterations and Their Association with High Temperature Tolerance in Rice Anthesis

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism involved in gene regulation under environmental stresses in plants. However, little information is available regarding its responses to high temperature (HT) and association with HT tolerance in rice. In this study, fourteen rice genotypes were classified into the susceptible, moderate, and tolerant groups by the high temperature susceptibility index (HTSI) after HT treatment. The changes of DNA methylation in rice anthesis under normal and HT30 conditions were investigated using methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism31 (MSAP). The MSAP results showed that the DNA methylation level significantly increased in the susceptible rice group and decreased in the tolerant rice group under HT treatment, while no significant difference was observed in the moderate rice group. More hypomethylation events were detected in the tolerant rice group, while more hypermethylation was detected in the susceptible rice group. Forty-four differentially methylated epiloci (DME) were generated under both control and HT conditions, which can clearly distinguish the susceptible, moderate, and tolerant genotypes via PCoA analysis. Approximately 43.18% of DMEs were determined to be tolerance-associated epiloci (TAEs). 63.15% TAEs were sequenced and annotated into 12 genes. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that 12 TAE genes were mainly upregulated in 14 rice genotypes, and their expression levels were related to the HT tolerance of rice. Here, DEGs, generated from a number of genotypes, indicate higher probabilities for association with stress tolerance. Overall, these results suggest that DNA methylation regulation might play a key role in adaptation to HT stress in rice.

     

Root-Specific DNA Methylation in Chloris virgata, a Natural Alkaline-Resistant Halophyte, in Response to Salt and Alkaline Stresses

DNA methylation has long been considered to play important roles in the regulation of plant response to multiple environmental stresses. As it is with saline soils, alkaline soils are important agricultural contaminants that have complex effects on plant metabolism and, in particular, on root physiology. However, there are no reports on epigenetic responses of plants to both salt and alkaline stresses. In this study, we report on the effects of salt stress (S, 1:1 molar ratio of NaCl to Na₂SO₄) as well as alkaline stress (A, 1:1 molar ratio of NaHCO₃ to Na₂CO₃) on DNA methylation in an alkaline-resistant halophyte, Chloris virgate. A total of 959 and 1,040 DNA fragments were amplified in leaves and roots, respectively, by using 21 pairs of selective primers in methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism analysis. The results showed that the overall level of methylation in leaves was 18.35%, and in roots, it was 12.40%. Furthermore, both salt and alkaline stress caused DNA methylation variations, predominantly in the roots. The variation ratio was 0.75% in leaves and 5.29% in roots under salt stress and 1.26% in leaves and 14.17% in roots under alkaline stress. The results suggested that alkaline stress was more destructive and complex than salt stress and that the DNA methylation regulation that occurred in the roots might play an important role in the acquirement and inheritance of salt and alkaline stress tolerance.     

Consistent and Heritable Alterations of DNA Methylation Are Induced by Tissue Culture in Maize

Plants regenerated from tissue culture and their progenies are expected to be identical clones, but often display heritable molecular and phenotypic variation. We characterized DNA methylation patterns in callus, primary regenerants, and regenerant-derived progenies of maize using immunoprecipitation of methylated DNA (meDIP) to assess the genome-wide frequency, pattern, and heritability of DNA methylation changes. Although genome-wide DNA methylation levels remained similar following tissue culture, numerous regions exhibited altered DNA methylation levels. Hypomethylation events were observed more frequently than hypermethylation following tissue culture. Many of the hypomethylation events occur at the same genomic sites across independent regenerants and cell lines. The DNA methylation changes were often heritable in progenies produced from self-pollination of primary regenerants. Methylation changes were enriched in regions upstream of genes and loss of DNA methylation at promoters was associated with altered expression at a subset of loci. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) found in tissue culture regenerants overlap with the position of naturally occurring DMRs more often than expected by chance with 8% of tissue culture hypomethylated DMRs overlapping with DMRs identified by profiling natural variation, consistent with the hypotheses that genomic stresses similar to those causing somaclonal variation may also occur in nature, and that certain loci are particularly susceptible to epigenetic change in response to these stresses. The consistency of methylation changes across regenerants from independent cultures suggests a mechanistic response to the culture environment as opposed to an overall loss of fidelity in the maintenance of epigenetic states.