Positive selective sweeps of epigenetic mutations regulating specialized metabolites in plants.

DNA methylation is an important factor regulating gene expression in organisms. However, whether DNA methylation plays a key role in adaptive evolution is unknown. Here, we show evidence of naturally selected DNA methylation in In comparison with single nucleotide polymorphisms, three types of methylation-methylated CGs (mCGs), mCHGs, and mCHHs-contributed highly to variable gene expression levels among an population.

Small open reading frames associated with morphogenesis are hidden in plant genomes.

It is likely that many small ORFs (sORFs; 30-100 amino acids) are missed when genomes are annotated. To overcome this limitation, we identified ∼8,000 sORFs with high coding potential in intergenic regions of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. However, the question remains as to whether these coding sORFs play functional roles.