Dataset Information

DNA methylation mediates transcriptional stability and transposon-driven trans-regulation under drought in wheat

ABSTRACT: Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a major component of half the global population’s diet, but increasingly frequent droughts threaten its productivity and food security. While massive transcriptional reprogramming under drought in wheat seedlings is well characterised, DNA methylation’s contribution remains poorly understood. Using paired whole-genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS) and RNA-seq before and after drought stress in wheat landraces, we probed the nuanced role of DNA methylation in the drought response, uncovering antagonistic trends between cytosine contexts and novel mechanisms, with the ROS1a family potentially playing a key demethylation role under drought. Examination of gene methylation profiles revealed that gene body methylation was strongly positively correlated with gene expression but negatively with stress responsiveness, simultaneously identifying that gene body differentially methylated regions (DMRs) targeted stress-associated genes. Many DMR-associated genes maintained consistent transcription under stress, suggesting a stabilising role for DNA methylation. Most DMRs localised to intergenic regions and transposable elements (TEs), with the ancient LTR retrotransposon RLX_famc9 emerging as a critical target of differential methylation under drought. We propose a model in which the RLX_famc9 family, enriched in differential methylation and exhibiting substantial sequence similarity to drought-responsive genes, is involved in the trans-regulation of stress-associated genes under control conditions through the generation of regulatory siRNA precursors, a mechanism suppressed by drought-inducible hypermethylation. Our findings suggest an intricate regulatory role of DNA methylation under drought, with genic DNA methylation promoting high, stable expression, ROS1a glycosylases coordinating targeted demethylation, and methylation-controlled TEs modulating the expression of downstream genes in trans.

ORGANISM(S): Triticum aestivum

PROVIDER: GSE311296 | GEO | 2025/12/04

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:To better undersand the effects of drought stress on wheat developing seeds, the transcription profile of early developing wheat seeds under control and drought stress conditions were comparatively analyzed by using the Affymetrix wheat geneChip. Drought stress is a major yield-limiting factor for wheat. Wheat yields are particularly sensitive to drought stress during reproductive development. Early seed development stage is an important determinant of seed size, one of the yield components. We specifically examined the impact of drought stress imposed during postzygotic early seed development in wheat. We imposed a short-term drought stress on plants with day-old seeds and observed that even a short-duration drought stress significantly reduced the size of developing seeds as well as mature seeds. Drought stress delayed the developmental transition from syncytial to cellularized stage of endosperm. Coincident with reduced seed size and delayed endosperm development, a subset of genes associated with cytoskeleton organization was misregulated in developing seeds under drought-stressed. Several genes linked to hormone pathways were also differentially regulated in response to drought stress in early seeds. Notably, drought stress strongly repressed the expression of wheat storage protein genes such as gliadins, glutenins and avenins as early as 3 days after pollination. Our results provide new insights on how some of the early seed developmental events are impacted by water stress, and the underlying molecular pathways that can possibly impact both grain size and quality in wheat. Winter wheat cultivar Redland, PI 502907 (Triticum aestivum L.) was used for this study. Seedlings were vernalized at 4°C for 6 weeks and then transplanted to a one gallon pot of soil-sand mixture (3:1, v/v) and grown in a growth chamber under the following conditions: relative humidity, 50–70%; 16-h light/8-h dark photoperiod; 21°C daytime temperature and 18°C nights. Plants were watered regularly twice daily at the rate of 100ml/ per pot. Because, wheat has an asynchronous fertilization pattern for ovlues in the inflorescence, each floret needs to be specifically marked for timing the fertilization and stress induction. After spikes developed, unfertilized ovules were monitored and observed for the fertilization process. Closed wheat spikes with anthers outside were marked as fertilized. Drought stress was imposed 24h after the fertilization (HAF). Drought stress treatment was initiated by discontinuing watering on the drought treatment plants while control plants were regularly watered twice daily. Stress treatment was applied at 48 HAF and relieved at 96 HAF. The microarray study focuses on 24 HAF to 72 HAF in control and drought stress conditions. We started to impose drought stress 24HAF.

Dataset Information

DNA methylation mediates transcriptional stability and transposon-driven trans-regulation under drought in wheat

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets