Natural variation for alleles under epigenetic control by the maize chromomethylase zmet2.

ABSTRACT: The contribution of epigenetic alterations to natural variation for gene transcription levels remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the functional targets of the maize chromomethylase ZMET2 in multiple inbred lines to determine whether epigenetic changes conditioned by this chromomethylase are conserved or variable within the species. Gene expression microarrays were hybridized with RNA samples from the inbred lines B73 and Mo17 and from near-isogenic derivatives containing the loss-of-function allele zmet2-m1. A set of 126 genes that displayed statistically significant differential expression in zmet2 mutants relative to wild-type plants in at least one of the two genetic backgrounds was identified. Analysis of the transcript levels in both wild-type and mutant individuals revea

SUBMITTER: Makarevitch I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2034640 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature