scholarly journals Grafting vigour is associated with DNA de-methylation in eggplant

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Cerruti ◽  
Carmina Gisbert ◽  
Hajk-Georg Drost ◽  
Danila Valentino ◽  
Ezio Portis ◽  
...  

AbstractIn horticulture, grafting is a popular technique used to combine positive traits from two different plants. This is achieved by joining the plant top part (scion) onto a rootstock which contains the stem and roots. Rootstocks can provide resistance to stress and increase plant production, but despite their wide use, the biological mechanisms driving rootstock-induced alterations of the scion phenotype remain largely unknown. Given that epigenetics plays a relevant role during distance signalling in plants, we studied the genome-wide DNA methylation changes induced in eggplant (Solanum melongena) scion using two interspecific rootstocks to increase vigour. We found that vigour was associated with a change in scion gene expression and a genome-wide hypomethylation in the CHH context. Interestingly, this hypomethylation correlated with the downregulation of younger and potentially more active long terminal repeat retrotransposable elements (LTR-TEs), suggesting that graft-induced epigenetic modifications are associated with both physiological and molecular phenotypes in grafted plants. Our results indicate that the enhanced vigour induced by heterografting in eggplant is associated with epigenetic modifications, as also observed in some heterotic hybrids.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Cerruti ◽  
Carmina Gisbert ◽  
Hajk-Georg Drost ◽  
Danila Valentino ◽  
Ezio Portis ◽  
...  

AbstractIn horticulture, grafting is a popular technique used to combine positive traits from two different plants. This is achieved by joining the plant top part (scion) onto a rootstock which contains the stem and roots. Despite its wide use, the biological mechanisms driving rootstock-induced alterations of the scion phenotype remain largely unknown. Given that epigenetics plays a crucial role during distance signalling in plants, we studied the genome-wide changes induced by DNA methylation in eggplant (Solanum melongena) plants grafted onto two interspecific rootstocks used to increase scion vigour. As a control, we compared any epigenetic effect found in such grafts to patterns detected in self-grafted plants. We found that vigour was associated with a specific change in scion gene expression and a genome-wide hypomethylation in CHH context. Interestingly, this hypomethylation correlated with the down-regulation of younger and potentially more active LTR retrotransposons (LTR-TEs), suggesting that graft-induced epigenetic modifications are associated to both physiological and molecular phenotypes in grafted plants. We propose that rootstocks can promote vigour by reducing DNA methylation in the scion genome, following similar principles found in some heterotic hybrids.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Pogoda ◽  
Hanna Tutaj ◽  
Adrian Pirog ◽  
Katarzyna Tomala ◽  
Ryszard Korona

AbstractSystematic collections of single-gene deletions have been invaluable in uncovering determinants of lifespan in yeast. Overexpression of a single gene does not have such a clear outcome as cancellation of its function but it can lead to a variety of imbalances, deregulations and compensations, and some of them could be important for longevity. We report an experiment in which a genome-wide collection of strains overexpressing a single gene was assayed for chronological lifespan (CLS). Only one group of proteins, those locating to the inner membrane and matrix of mitochondria, tended to extend CLS when abundantly overproduced. We selected two such strains—one overexpressing Qcr7 of the respiratory complex III, the other overexpressing Mrps28 of the small mitoribosomal subunit—and analyzed their transcriptomes. The uncovered shifts in RNA abundance in the two strains were nearly identical and highly suggestive. They implied a distortion in the co-translational assembly of respiratory complexes followed by retrograde signaling to the nucleus. The consequent reprogramming of the entire cellular metabolism towards the resistance to stress resulted in an enhanced ability to persist in a non-proliferating state. Our results show that surveillance of the inner mitochondrial membrane integrity is of outstanding importance for the cell. They also demonstrate that overexpression of single genes could be used effectively to elucidate the mitochondrion-nucleus crosstalk.


2014 ◽  
Vol 226 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Ponthan ◽  
D Pal ◽  
J Vormoor ◽  
O Heidenreich
Keyword(s):  

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
M. Lanktree ◽  
J. Robinson ◽  
J. Creider ◽  
H. Cao ◽  
D. Carter ◽  
...  

Background: In Dunnigan-type familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD) patients are born with normal fat distribution, but subcutaneous fat from extremities and gluteal regions are lost during puberty. The abnormal fat distribution leads to the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of phenotypes including hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and visceral obesity. The study of FPLD as a monogenic model of MetS may uncover genetic risk factors of the common MetS which affects ~30% of adult North Americans. Two molecular forms of FPLD have been identified including FPLD2, resulting from heterozygous mutations in the LMNA gene, and FPLD3, resulting from both heterozygous dominant negative and haploinsufficiency mutations in the PPARG gene. However, many patients with clinically diagnosed FPLD have no mutation in either LMNA or PPARG, suggesting the involvement of additional genes in FPLD etiology. Methods: Here, we report the results of an Affymetrix 10K GeneChip microarray genome-wide linkage analysis study of a German kindred displaying the FPLD phenotype and no known lipodystrophy-causing mutations. Results: The investigation identified three chromosomal loci, namely 1q, 3p, and 9q, with non-parametric logarithm of odds (NPL) scores >2.7. While not meeting the criteria for genome-wide significance, it is interesting to note that the 1q and 3p peaks contain the LMNA and PPARG genes respectively. Conclusions: Three possible conclusions can be drawn from these results: 1) the peaks identified are spurious findings, 2) additional genes physically close to LMNA, PPARG, or within 9q, are involved in FPLD etiology, or 3) alternative disease causing mechanisms not identified by standard exon sequencing approaches, such as promoter mutations, alternative splicing, or epigenetics, are also responsible for FPLD.


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