The progeny of Arabidopsis thaliana plants exposed to salt exhibit changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications and gene expression

PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e30515. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030515. Epub 2012 Jan 23.

Abstract

Plants are able to acclimate to new growth conditions on a relatively short time-scale. Recently, we showed that the progeny of plants exposed to various abiotic stresses exhibited changes in genome stability, methylation patterns and stress tolerance. Here, we performed a more detailed analysis of methylation patterns in the progeny of Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) plants exposed to 25 and 75 mM sodium chloride. We found that the majority of gene promoters exhibiting changes in methylation were hypermethylated, and this group was overrepresented by regulators of the chromatin structure. The analysis of DNA methylation at gene bodies showed that hypermethylation in the progeny of stressed plants was primarily due to changes in the 5' and 3' ends as well as in exons rather than introns. All but one hypermethylated gene tested had lower gene expression. The analysis of histone modifications in the promoters and coding sequences showed that hypermethylation and lower gene expression correlated with the enrichment of H3K9me2 and depletion of H3K9ac histones. Thus, our work demonstrated a high degree of correlation between changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications and gene expression in the progeny of salt-stressed plants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis* / drug effects
  • Arabidopsis* / genetics
  • Arabidopsis* / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis* / physiology
  • Breeding
  • Cluster Analysis
  • DNA Methylation / drug effects*
  • DNA Methylation / genetics
  • DNA Methylation / physiology
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / genetics
  • Genes, Reporter / drug effects
  • Histones / metabolism*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / drug effects
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational / drug effects
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational / genetics
  • Reproduction, Asexual / physiology
  • Salt Tolerance / drug effects
  • Salt Tolerance / genetics*
  • Salt-Tolerant Plants / drug effects
  • Salt-Tolerant Plants / genetics
  • Salt-Tolerant Plants / metabolism
  • Sodium Chloride / pharmacology*
  • Stress, Physiological / genetics
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology

Substances

  • Histones
  • Sodium Chloride