A chloroplast-resident DNA methyltransferase is responsible for hypermethylation of chloroplast genes in Chlamydomonas maternal gametes.

ABSTRACT: Chloroplast DNA of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is maternally inherited. Methylation mapping directly revealed that, before mating, chloroplast DNA of maternal (mating type plus; mt(+)) gametes is heavily methylated whereas that of paternal (mating type minus; mt(-)) gametes is not. Indirect immunofluorescence analyses with anti-5-methylcytosine mAbs visually showed methylation to occur exclusively in chloroplast DNA of mt(+) gametes, and not in mt(-) gametes or nuclear DNA of either mt. To clarify the relationship between methylation and maternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA, we have isolated and characterized a cDNA encoding a DNA methyltransferase. The deduced protein, CrMET1, consists of 1,344 aa and contains a conserved catalytic domain at the C terminal and a nonconserv

SUBMITTER: Nishiyama R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC122878 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature