RICE SCIENCE

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Changes in DNA Methylation Pattern at Two Seedling Stages in Water Saving and Drought-Resistant Rice Variety after Drought Stress Domestication

  1. 1Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai 201106, China; 2 College of Plant Sciences & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
  • Online:2014-09-28 Published:2014-07-26
  • Contact: LUO Li-jun
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by the National High-Technology R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2012AA101102), the Project for High-Level Talents of China (Grant No. 2010C1120), and Shanghai Key Program for Agriculture Science and Technology, China.

Abstract:

Recent studies revealed that DNA methylation plays an important role in plant growth and development. In this study, a water-saving and drought-resistant rice variety Huhan 3 was subjected to drought stress from tillering to grain-filling stages in six successive growth cycles. The variations in DNA methylation pattern between the original generation (G0) and the sixth generation (G6) were analyzed by using methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism method. The results revealed that the methylated loci accounted for 34.3% to 34.8% of the total loci. Among these methylated loci, 83.1% to 84.8% were full- and hyper-methylated and 15.2% to 16.9% were hemi-methylated. The DNA methylation level decreased from the three-leaf to four-leaf stages in Huhan 3. Differentially methylated loci (DML) between generations or/and between different developmental stages accounted for 4.0% of the total loci, most of which were only related to plant development (57.9%). Compared to G0, the DNA methylation pattern of G6 changed after drought domestication, at the three-leaf stage, de-methylation accounting for 59.1%, while at the four-leaf stage, re-methylation for 47.9%. Genome-wide alternations of DNA methylation were observed between the two seedling stages, and DML mainly occurred on the gene’s promoter and exon region. The genes related to DML involved in a wide range of functional biology and participated in many important biological processes.

Key words: drought stress, water-saving and drought-resistant rice, DNA methylation, seedling stage, methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism