scholarly journals Genome-wide screen of genomic imprinting in endosperm and population-level analysis reveal allelic variation for imprinting in flax

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixia Jiang ◽  
Dongliang Guo ◽  
Jiali Ye ◽  
Yanfang Gao ◽  
Huiqing Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractGenomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon caused by the biased expression of maternally and paternally inherited alleles. In flowering plants, genomic imprinting predominantly occurs in triploid endosperm and plays a vital role in seed development. In this study, we identified 241 candidate imprinted genes including 143 maternally expressed imprinted genes (MEGs) and 98 paternally expressed imprinted genes (PEGs) in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) endosperm using deep RNA sequencing. The conservation of imprinting in plants is very limited and imprinting clustering is not a general feature. MEGs tends to be endosperm expression specific, while PEGs are non-tissue specific. Imprinted SNPs differentiated 200 flax cultivars into oil flax, oil-fiber dual purpose flax (OF) and fiber flax subgroups, suggesting that genomic imprinting contributes to intraspecific variation in flax. The nucleotide diversity (π) of imprinted genes in oil flax subgroup is significantly higher than that in fiber flax subgroup, indicating that some imprinted genes undergo positive selection during flax domestication from oil flax to fiber flax. Imprinted genes undergo positive selection is related to the functions. Eleven imprinted genes related to seed size and weight were identified using the candidate gene-based association study. Our study provides information for further exploring the function and genomic variation of imprinted genes in flax population.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichao Zhang ◽  
Shuai Yu ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Yanbin Zhu ◽  
Siqi Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon mainly occurs in endosperm of flowering plants. Genome-wide identification of imprinted genes have been completed in several dicot Cruciferous plant and monocot crops. Results Here, we analyzed global patterns of allelic gene expression in developing endosperm of sunflower which belongs to the composite family. Totally, 691 imprinted loci candidates were identified in 12 day-after-pollination sunflower endosperm including 79 maternally expressed genes (MEG) and 596 paternally expressed genes (PEG), 6 maternally expressed noncoding RNAs (MNC) and 10 paternally expressed noncoding RNAs (PNC). And a clear clustering of imprinted genes throughout the rapeseed genome was identified. Generally, imprinting in sunflower is conserved within a species, but intraspecific variation also was detected. Limited loci in sunflower are imprinted in other several different species. The DNA methylation pattern around imprinted genes were investigated in embryo and endosperm tissues. In CG context, the imprinted genes were significantly associated with differential methylated regions exhibiting hypomethylation in endosperm and hypermethylation in embryo, which indicated that the maternal demethylation in CG context potentially induce the genomic imprinting in endosperm. Conclusion Our study would be helpful for understanding of genomic imprinting in plants and provide potential basis for further research in imprinting in sunflower.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis G. Spurgin ◽  
Mirte Bosse ◽  
Frank Adriaensen ◽  
Tamer Albayrak ◽  
Christos Barboutis ◽  
...  

AbstractA major aim of evolutionary biology is to understand why patterns of genomic diversity vary among populations and species. Large-scale genomic studies of widespread species are useful for studying how the environment and demographic history shape patterns of genomic divergence, and with the continually decreasing cost of sequencing and genotyping, such studies are now becoming feasible. Here, we carry out one of the most geographically comprehensive surveys of genomic variation in a wild vertebrate to date; the great tit (Parus major) HapMap project. We screened ca 500,000 SNP markers across 647 individuals from 29 populations, spanning almost the entire geographic range of the European great tit subspecies. We found that genome-wide variation was consistent with a recent colonisation across Europe from a single refugium in South-East Europe, with bottlenecks and reduced genetic diversity in island populations. Differentiation across the genome was highly heterogeneous, with clear “islands of differentiation” even among populations with very low levels of genome-wide differentiation. Low local recombination rate in the genome was a strong predictor of high local genomic differentiation (FST), especially in island and peripheral mainland populations, suggesting that the interplay between genetic drift and recombination is a key driver of highly heterogeneous differentiation landscapes. We also detected genomic outlier regions that were confined to one or more peripheral great tit populations, most likely as a result of recent directional selection at the range edges of this species. Haplotype-based measures of selection were also related to recombination rate, albeit less strongly, and highlighted population-specific sweeps that likely resulted from positive selection. These regions under positive selection contained candidate genes associated with morphology, thermal adaptation and colouration, providing promising avenues for future investigation. Our study highlights how comprehensive screens of genomic variation in wild organisms can provide unique insights into evolution.


Author(s):  
Hisato Kobayashi

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon that results in unequal expression of homologous maternal and paternal alleles. This process is initiated in the germline, and the parental epigenetic memories can be maintained following fertilization and induce further allele-specific transcription and chromatin modifications of single or multiple neighboring genes, known as imprinted genes. To date, more than 260 imprinted genes have been identified in the mouse genome, most of which are controlled by imprinted germline differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) that exhibit parent-of-origin specific DNA methylation, which is considered primary imprint. Recent studies provide evidence that a subset of gDMR-less, placenta-specific imprinted genes is controlled by maternal-derived histone modifications. To further understand DNA methylation-dependent (canonical) and -independent (non-canonical) imprints, this review summarizes the loci under the control of each type of imprinting in the mouse and compares them with the respective homologs in other rodents. Understanding epigenetic systems that differ among loci or species may provide new models for exploring genetic regulation and evolutionary divergence.


Reproduction ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (5) ◽  
pp. 523-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn B Renfree ◽  
Eleanor I Ager ◽  
Geoff Shaw ◽  
Andrew J Pask

Genomic imprinting is a widespread epigenetic phenomenon in eutherian mammals, which regulates many aspects of growth and development. Parental conflict over the degree of maternal nutrient transfer is the favoured hypothesis for the evolution of imprinting. Marsupials, like eutherian mammals, are viviparous but deliver an altricial young after a short gestation supported by a fully functional placenta, so can shed light on the evolution and time of acquisition of genomic imprinting. All orthologues of eutherian imprinted genes examined have a conserved expression in the marsupial placenta regardless of their imprint status. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) are the most common mechanism controlling genomic imprinting in eutherian mammals, but none were found in the marsupial imprinted orthologues of IGF2 receptor (IGF2R), INS or mesoderm-specific transcript (MEST). Instead, histone modification appears to be the mechanism used to silence these genes. At least three genes in marsupials have DMRs: H19, IGF2 and PEG10. PEG10 is particularly interesting as it is derived from a retrotransposon, providing the first direct evidence that retrotransposon insertion can drive the evolution of an imprinted region and of a DMR in mammals. The insertion occurred after the prototherian–therian mammal divergence, suggesting that there may have been strong selection for the retention of imprinted regions that arose during the evolution of placentation. There is currently no evidence for genomic imprinting in the egg-laying monotreme mammals. However, since these mammals do have a short-lived placenta, imprinting appears to be correlated with viviparity but not placentation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 9618
Author(s):  
Lin Yang ◽  
Feng Xing ◽  
Qin He ◽  
Muhammad Tahir ul Qamar ◽  
Ling-Ling Chen ◽  
...  

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon in which a subset of genes express dependent on the origin of their parents. In plants, it is unclear whether imprinted genes are conserved between subspecies in rice. Here we identified imprinted genes from embryo and endosperm 5–7 days after pollination from three pairs of reciprocal hybrids, including inter-subspecies, japonica intra-subspecies, and indica intra-subspecies reciprocal hybrids. A total of 914 imprinted genes, including 546 in inter-subspecies hybrids, 211 in japonica intra-subspecies hybrids, and 286 in indica intra-subspecies hybrids. In general, the number of maternally expressed genes (MEGs) is more than paternally expressed genes (PEGs). Moreover, imprinted genes tend to be in mini clusters. The number of shared genes by R9N (reciprocal crosses between 9311 and Nipponbare) and R9Z (reciprocal crosses between 9311 and Zhenshan 97), R9N and RZN (reciprocal crosses between Zhonghua11 and Nipponbare), R9Z and RZN was 72, 46, and 16. These genes frequently involved in energy metabolism and seed development. Five imprinted genes (Os01g0151700, Os07g0103100, Os10g0340600, Os11g0679700, and Os12g0632800) are commonly detected in all three pairs of reciprocal hybrids and were validated by RT-PCR sequencing. Gene editing of two imprinted genes revealed that both genes conferred grain filling. Moreover, 15 and 27 imprinted genes with diverse functions in rice were shared with Arabidopsis and maize, respectively. This study provided valuable resources for identification of imprinting genes in rice or even in cereals.


eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Wolff ◽  
Hua Jiang ◽  
Guifeng Wang ◽  
Juan Santos-González ◽  
Claudia Köhler

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon causing parent-of-origin specific differential expression of maternally and paternally inherited alleles. While many imprinted genes have been identified in plants, the functional roles of most of them are unknown. In this study, we systematically examine the functional requirement of paternally expressed imprinted genes (PEGs) during seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana. While none of the 15 analyzed peg mutants has qualitative or quantitative abnormalities of seed development, we identify three PEGs that establish postzygotic hybridization barriers in the endosperm, revealing that PEGs have a major role as speciation genes in plants. Our work reveals that a subset of PEGs maintains functional roles in the inbreeding plant Arabidopsis that become evident upon deregulated expression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixia Jiang ◽  
Dongliang Guo ◽  
Jiali Ye ◽  
Yanfang Gao ◽  
Huiqing Liu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly B. Klingler ◽  
Joshua P. Jahner ◽  
Thomas L. Parchman ◽  
Chris Ray ◽  
Mary M. Peacock

Abstract Background Distributional responses by alpine taxa to repeated, glacial-interglacial cycles throughout the last two million years have significantly influenced the spatial genetic structure of populations. These effects have been exacerbated for the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a small alpine lagomorph constrained by thermal sensitivity and a limited dispersal capacity. As a species of conservation concern, long-term lack of gene flow has important consequences for landscape genetic structure and levels of diversity within populations. Here, we use reduced representation sequencing (ddRADseq) to provide a genome-wide perspective on patterns of genetic variation across pika populations representing distinct subspecies. To investigate how landscape and environmental features shape genetic variation, we collected genetic samples from distinct geographic regions as well as across finer spatial scales in two geographically proximate mountain ranges of eastern Nevada. Results Our genome-wide analyses corroborate range-wide, mitochondrial subspecific designations and reveal pronounced fine-scale population structure between the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range of eastern Nevada. Populations in Nevada were characterized by low genetic diversity (π = 0.0006–0.0009; θW = 0.0005–0.0007) relative to populations in California (π = 0.0014–0.0019; θW = 0.0011–0.0017) and the Rocky Mountains (π = 0.0025–0.0027; θW = 0.0021–0.0024), indicating substantial genetic drift in these isolated populations. Tajima’s D was positive for all sites (D = 0.240–0.811), consistent with recent contraction in population sizes range-wide. Conclusions Substantial influences of geography, elevation and climate variables on genetic differentiation were also detected and may interact with the regional effects of anthropogenic climate change to force the loss of unique genetic lineages through continued population extirpations in the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada.


GigaScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taras K Oleksyk ◽  
Walter W Wolfsberger ◽  
Alexandra M Weber ◽  
Khrystyna Shchubelka ◽  
Olga T Oleksyk ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The main goal of this collaborative effort is to provide genome-wide data for the previously underrepresented population in Eastern Europe, and to provide cross-validation of the data from genome sequences and genotypes of the same individuals acquired by different technologies. We collected 97 genome-grade DNA samples from consented individuals representing major regions of Ukraine that were consented for public data release. BGISEQ-500 sequence data and genotypes by an Illumina GWAS chip were cross-validated on multiple samples and additionally referenced to 1 sample that has been resequenced by Illumina NovaSeq6000 S4 at high coverage. Results The genome data have been searched for genomic variation represented in this population, and a number of variants have been reported: large structural variants, indels, copy number variations, single-nucletide polymorphisms, and microsatellites. To our knowledge, this study provides the largest to-date survey of genetic variation in Ukraine, creating a public reference resource aiming to provide data for medical research in a large understudied population. Conclusions Our results indicate that the genetic diversity of the Ukrainian population is uniquely shaped by evolutionary and demographic forces and cannot be ignored in future genetic and biomedical studies. These data will contribute a wealth of new information bringing forth a wealth of novel, endemic and medically related alleles.


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