Nature Communications (Aug 2020)

DNA methylation is reconfigured at the onset of reproduction in rice shoot apical meristem

  • Asuka Higo,
  • Noriko Saihara,
  • Fumihito Miura,
  • Yoko Higashi,
  • Megumi Yamada,
  • Shojiro Tamaki,
  • Tasuku Ito,
  • Yoshiaki Tarutani,
  • Tomoaki Sakamoto,
  • Masayuki Fujiwara,
  • Tetsuya Kurata,
  • Yoichiro Fukao,
  • Satoru Moritoh,
  • Rie Terada,
  • Toshinori Kinoshita,
  • Takashi Ito,
  • Tetsuji Kakutani,
  • Ko Shimamoto,
  • Hiroyuki Tsuji

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17963-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

Read online

The shoot apical meristem of flowering plants transitions from forming leaves to floral organs. Here Higo et al. show that DNA methylation of many transposons that are hypermethylated in gametes is established in the SAM before flowering, suggesting it protects against harmful transposition long before germ cell differentiation.