AI Article Synopsis
- Seed dormancy is a critical adaptation that prevents seeds from germinating out of season, and is influenced by both maternal and paternal genetic factors.
- Research indicates that the paternal allele is silenced through a process called non-canonical RNA-directed DNA methylation, which is further enhanced by cold temperatures during seed development.
- This combination of cold-induced DNA methylation and parental allele imprints helps seeds remember the environmental conditions experienced by the mother plant, ultimately increasing dormancy levels.
Article Abstract
Seed dormancy is an adaptive trait preventing premature germination out of season. In a previous report (Piskurewicz et al., 2016) we showed that dormancy levels are maternally inherited through the preferential maternal allele expression in the seed endosperm of (), a negative regulator of dormancy. Here we show that suppression of paternal allele expression is imposed by non-canonical RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) of the paternal allele promoter. Dormancy levels are further enhanced by cold during seed development. We show that DNA methylation of the promoter is stimulated by cold in a tissue-specific manner through non-canonical RdDM, involving RDR6 and AGO6. This leads to suppression of expression and further promotion of seed dormancy. Our results suggest that tissue-specific and cold-induced RdDM is superimposed to parental allele imprints to deposit in the seed progeny a transient memory of environmental conditions experienced by the mother plant.
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Source |
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6435323 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.37434 | DOI Listing |
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