Potent pollen gene regulation by DNA glycosylases in maize

Yibing Zeng, Julian Somers, Harrison S. Bell, Zuzana Vejlupkova, R. Kelly Dawe, John E. Fowler, Brad Nelms () and Jonathan I. Gent ()
Additional contact information
Yibing Zeng: University of Georgia
Julian Somers: University of Georgia
Harrison S. Bell: Oregon State University
Zuzana Vejlupkova: Oregon State University
R. Kelly Dawe: University of Georgia
John E. Fowler: Oregon State University
Brad Nelms: University of Georgia
Jonathan I. Gent: University of Georgia

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Although DNA methylation primarily represses TEs, it also represses select genes that are methylated in plant body tissues but demethylated by DNA glycosylases (DNGs) in endosperm or pollen. Either one of two DNGs, MATERNAL DEREPRESSION OF R1 (MDR1) or DNG102, is essential for pollen viability in maize. Using single-pollen mRNA sequencing on pollen-segregating mutations in both genes, we identify 58 candidate DNG target genes that account for 11.1% of the wild-type transcriptome but are silent or barely detectable in other tissues. They are unusual in their tendency to lack introns but even more so in their TE-like methylation (teM) in coding DNA. The majority have predicted functions in cell wall modification, and they likely support the rapid tip growth characteristic of pollen tubes. These results suggest a critical role for DNA methylation and demethylation in regulating maize genes with the potential for extremely high expression in pollen but constitutive silencing elsewhere.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52620-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-52620-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52620-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().