One-Way Control of FWA Imprinting in Arabidopsis Endosperm by DNA Methylation

2003/11/24 by Tetsu Kinoshita, Asuka Miura, Yeonhee Choi +5 · 1 voice · 553 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Arabidopsis #Biology #DNA methylation #Endosperm #Epigenetics #Epigenetics and DNA Methylation #Gene #Gene expression #Genetic Syndromes and Imprinting #Genetics #Genomic imprinting #Imprinting (psychology) #Methylation #Mutant #Plant Molecular Biology Research

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1089835

published in Science 303(5657), 521-523 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

openalex publication_date 2003/11/24 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The Arabidopsis FWA gene was initially identified from late-flowering epigenetic mutants that show ectopic FWA expression associated with heritable hypomethylation of repeats around transcription starting sites. Here, we show that wild-type FWA displays imprinted (maternal origin-specific) expression in endosperm. The FWA imprint depends on the maintenance DNA methyltransferase MET1, as is the case in mammals. Unlike mammals, however, the FWA imprint is not established by allele-specific de novo methylation. It is established by maternal gametophyte-specific gene activation, which depends on a DNA glycosylase gene, DEMETER. Because endosperm does not contribute to the next generation, the activated FWA gene need not be silenced again. Double fertilization enables plants to use such "one-way" control of imprinting and DNA methylation in endosperm.

Cited by

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• Genetic and Functional Diversification of Small RNA Pathways in Plants
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• Heritable epigenetic mutation of a transposon-flanked Arabidopsis gene due to lack of the chromatin-remodeling factor DDM1. [europepmc]
• Genetic subtraction profiling identifies genes essential for Arabidopsis reproduction and reveals interaction between the female gametophyte and the maternal sporophyte. [europepmc]
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• Dosage-dependent deregulation of an AGAMOUS-LIKE gene cluster contributes to interspecific incompatibility. [europepmc]
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• Regulation of imprinted gene expression in Arabidopsis endosperm. [europepmc]
• Regulation and function of DNA methylation in plants and animals. [europepmc]
• Genome demethylation and imprinting in the endosperm. [europepmc]
• A genome-wide survey of imprinted genes in rice seeds reveals imprinting primarily occurs in the endosperm. [europepmc]
• Transgenerational epigenetic instability is a source of novel methylation variants. [europepmc]
• Patterns of population epigenomic diversity. [europepmc]
• Transgenerational variations in DNA methylation induced by drought stress in two rice varieties with distinguished difference to drought resistance. [europepmc]
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• Genomic imprinting in plants-revisiting existing models. [europepmc]
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• CRISPR-based targeting of DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana by a bacterial CG-specific DNA methyltransferase. [europepmc]
• Plant DNA Methylation: An Epigenetic Mark in Development, Environmental Interactions, and Evolution. [europepmc]

Discussions

• Epigenetics and chromatin crowd: What was a (or the) paper you read early on that made you think "wow, I'm in the right field". Mine is the classic on plant imprinting from Tetsuji Kakutani's group (K [bsky, 44 points, 19 comments]

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