Mobilization of transposons by a mutation abolishing full DNA methylation in Arabidopsis

Asuka Miura, Shoji Yonebayashi, Koichi Watanabe, Tomoko Toyama, Hiroaki Shimada and Tetsuji Kakutani ()
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Asuka Miura: National Institute of Genetics
Shoji Yonebayashi: National Institute of Agrobiological Resources
Koichi Watanabe: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Tomoko Toyama: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Hiroaki Shimada: Science University of Tokyo
Tetsuji Kakutani: National Institute of Genetics

Nature, 2001, vol. 411, issue 6834, 212-214

Abstract: Abstract A major component of the large genomes of higher plants and vertebrates comprises transposable elements and their derivatives, which potentially reduce the stability of the genome1. It has been proposed that methylation of cytosine residues may suppress transposition, but experimental evidence for this has been limited2,3,4,5. Reduced methylation of repeat sequences results from mutations in the Arabidopsis gene DDM1 (decrease in DNA methylation)6, which encodes a protein similar to the chromatin-remodelling factor SWI2/SNF2 (ref. 7). In the ddm1-induced hypomethylation background, silent repeat sequences are often reactivated transcriptionally, but no transposition of endogenous elements has been observed8,9,10,11. A striking feature of the ddm1 mutation is that it induces developmental abnormalities by causing heritable changes in other loci12,13. Here we report that one of the ddm1-induced abnormalities is caused by insertion of CAC1, an endogenous CACTA family transposon. This class of Arabidopsis elements transposes and increases in copy number at high frequencies specifically in the ddm1 hypomethylation background. Thus the DDM1 gene not only epigenetically ensures proper gene expression13,14,15,16, but also stabilizes transposon behaviour, possibly through chromatin remodelling or DNA methylation.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35075612

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