Genome Wide MeDIP-Seq Profiling of Wild and Cultivated Olives Trees Suggests DNA Methylation Fingerprint on the Sensory Quality of Olive Oil
Oussama Badad,
Naoufal Lakhssassi,
Nabil Zaid,
Abdelhalim El Baze,
Younes Zaid,
Jonas Meksem,
David A Lightfoot,
Huseyin Tombuloglu,
El Houcine Zaid,
Turgay Unver,
Khalid Meksem
Affiliations
Oussama Badad
Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Naoufal Lakhssassi
Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Nabil Zaid
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Abdelhalim El Baze
Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Younes Zaid
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Jonas Meksem
Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
David A Lightfoot
Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Huseyin Tombuloglu
Department of Genetics Research, Institute for Research and Medical Consultations (IRMC), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
El Houcine Zaid
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Turgay Unver
Ficus Biotechnology, Ostim OSB Mah, 100. Yil Blv, No:55, Yenimahalle, Ankara 06000, Turkey
Khalid Meksem
Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Secondary metabolites are particularly important to humans due to their pharmaceutical properties. Moreover, secondary metabolites are key compounds in climate change adaptation in long-living trees. Recently, it has been described that the domestication of Olea subspecies had no major selection signature on coding variants and was mainly related to changes in gene expression. In addition, the phenotypic plasticity in Olea subspecies was linked to the activation of transposable elements in the genes neighboring. Here, we investigated the imprint of DNA methylation in the unassigned fraction of the phenotypic plasticity of the Olea subspecies, using methylated DNA immuno-precipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) for a high-resolution genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of leaves and fruits during fruit development in wild and cultivated olives from Turkey. Notably, the methylation profiling showed a differential DNA methylation in secondary metabolism responsible for the sensory quality of olive oil. Here, we highlight for the first time the imprint of DNA methylation in modulating the activity of the Linoleate 9S lipoxygenase in the biosynthesis of volatile aromatic compounds. Unprecedently, the current study reveals the methylation status of the olive genome during fruit ripening.