Parental methylation mediates how progeny respond to environments of parents and of progeny themselves.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Environments experienced by both parents and offspring influence progeny traits, but the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate the balance of parental vs. progeny control of progeny phenotypes are not known. We tested whether DNA methylation in parents and/or progeny mediates responses to environmental cues experienced in both generations.

Methods

Using Arabidopsis thaliana, we manipulated parental and progeny DNA methylation both chemically, via 5-azacytidine, and genetically, via mutants of methyltransferase genes, then measured progeny germination responses to simulated canopy shade in parental and progeny generations.

Key results

We first found that germination of offspring responded to parental but not seed demethylation. We further found that p

SUBMITTER: Morgan BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9758305 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature