Germline replications and somatic mutation accumulation are independent of vegetative life span in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT: In plants, gametogenesis occurs late in development, and somatic mutations can therefore be transmitted to the next generation. Longer periods of growth are believed to result in an increase in the number of cell divisions before gametogenesis, with a concomitant increase in mutations arising due to replication errors. However, there is little experimental evidence addressing how many cell divisions occur before gametogenesis. Here, we measured loss of telomeric DNA and accumulation of replication errors in Arabidopsis with short and long life spans to determine the number of replications in lineages leading to gametes. Surprisingly, the number of cell divisions within the gamete lineage is nearly independent of both life span and vegetative growth. One consequence of the relatively stable

SUBMITTER: Watson JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5087024 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature