Daniel Zilberman

Genetic and Functional Diversification of Small RNA Pathways in Plants

Multicellular eukaryotes produce small RNA molecules (approximately 21–24 nucleotides) of two general types, microRNA (miRNA) and short interfering RNA (siRNA). They collectively function as sequence-specific guides to silence or regulate genes, transposons, and viruses and to modify chromatin and genome structure. Formation or activity of small RNAs requires factors belonging to gene families that encode DICER (or DICER-LIKE [DCL]) and ARGONAUTE proteins and, in the case of some siRNAs, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDR) proteins. Unlike many animals, plants encode multiple DCL and RDR proteins. Using a series of insertion mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, unique functions for three DCL proteins in miRNA (DCL1), endogenous siRNA (DCL3), and viral siRNA (DCL2) biogenesis were identified. One RDR protein (RDR2) was required for all endogenous siRNAs analyzed. The loss of endogenous siRNA in dcl3 and rdr2 mutants was associated with loss of heterochromatic marks and increased transcript accumulation at some loci. Defects in siRNA-generation activity in response to turnip crinkle virus in dcl2 mutant plants correlated with increased virus susceptibility. We conclude that proliferation and diversification of DCL and RDR genes during evolution of plants contributed to specialization of small RNA-directed pathways for development, chromatin structure, and defense.

Genome-wide analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana DNA methylation uncovers an interdependence between methylation and transcription

Cytosine methylation, a common form of DNA modification that antagonizes transcription, is found at transposons and repeats in vertebrates, plants and fungi. Here we have mapped DNA methylation in the entire Arabidopsis thaliana genome at high resolution. DNA methylation covers transposons and is present within a large fraction of A. thaliana genes. Methylation within genes is conspicuously biased away from gene ends, suggesting a dependence on RNA polymerase transit. Genic methylation is strongly influenced by transcription: moderately transcribed genes are most likely to be methylated, whereas genes at either extreme are least likely. In turn, transcription is influenced by methylation: short methylated genes are poorly expressed, and loss of methylation in the body of a gene leads to enhanced transcription. Our results indicate that genic transcription and DNA methylation are closely interwoven processes.

Genome-Wide Evolutionary Analysis of Eukaryotic DNA Methylation

Epigenetic Maps Methylation of genomic DNA on cytosine bases provides critical epigenetic regulation of gene expression and is involved in silencing transposable elements (TEs) and repeated sequences, as well as regulating imprinted gene expression. Zemach et al. (p. 916, published online 15 April; see the Perspective by Jeltsch) analyzed DNA methylation in the genomes of five plants, five fungi, and seven animals by bisulfite sequencing. The data suggest that land plants and vertebrates, which have extensive DNA methylation, are under strong selective pressure to repress TEs, because of their sexual mode of reproduction. Unicellular animals and fungi that reproduce asexually are more likely to lose TE methylation. Although gene body methylation is evolutionarily ancient, it is also mutagenic, and so loss of this pathway has been relatively common and occurred early in fungal evolution and later in several plant and animal lineages. Analysis of DNA methylation in 17 species suggests a path for the evolution of this epigenetic mark. Eukaryotic cytosine methylation represses transcription but also occurs in the bodies of active genes, and the extent of methylation biology conservation is unclear. We quantified DNA methylation in 17 eukaryotic genomes and found that gene body methylation is conserved between plants and animals, whereas selective methylation of transposons is not. We show that methylation of plant transposons in the CHG context extends to green algae and that exclusion of histone H2A.Z from methylated DNA is conserved between plants and animals, and we present evidence for RNA-directed DNA methylation of fungal genes. Our data demonstrate that extant DNA methylation systems are mosaics of conserved and derived features, and indicate that gene body methylation is an ancient property of eukaryotic genomes.

Genome-Wide Demethylation of Arabidopsis Endosperm

Dynamic Imprinting Gene imprinting—the silencing of either a maternally derived or paternally derived gene allele—is controlled in large part by DNA methylation. In plants, imprinting occurs in the endosperm, which nourishes the embryonic plant. Gehring et al. (p. 1447) and Hsieh et al. (p. 1451) analyzed the dynamics of DNA methylation in the endosperm and embryo of Arabidopsis and found extensive demethylation in the endosperm, suggesting that many imprinted genes are likely to exist. Gehring et al. characterized five imprinted genes in detail. Four of the 10 known imprinted genes are related homeodomain transcription factors. Furthermore, 5′ sequences demethylated in several of the genes were found to be derived from transposable elements, which supports the idea that imprinting arose as a by-product of silencing invading DNA. The endosperm genome of Arabidopsis shows extensive gene imprinting. Parent-of-origin-specific (imprinted) gene expression is regulated in Arabidopsis thaliana endosperm by cytosine demethylation of the maternal genome mediated by the DNA glycosylase DEMETER, but the extent of the methylation changes is not known. Here, we show that virtually the entire endosperm genome is demethylated, coupled with extensive local non-CG hypermethylation of small interfering RNA–targeted sequences. Mutation of DEMETER partially restores endosperm CG methylation to levels found in other tissues, indicating that CG demethylation is specific to maternal sequences. Endosperm demethylation is accompanied by CHH hypermethylation of embryo transposable elements. Our findings demonstrate extensive reconfiguration of the endosperm methylation landscape that likely reinforces transposon silencing in the embryo.

Histone H2A.Z and DNA methylation are mutually antagonistic chromatin marks

Eukaryotic chromatin is separated into functional domains differentiated by post-translational histone modifications, histone variants and DNA methylation. Methylation is associated with repression of transcriptional initiation in plants and animals, and is frequently found in transposable elements. Proper methylation patterns are crucial for eukaryotic development, and aberrant methylation-induced silencing of tumour suppressor genes is a common feature of human cancer. In contrast to methylation, the histone variant H2A.Z is preferentially deposited by the Swr1 ATPase complex near 5′ ends of genes where it promotes transcriptional competence. How DNA methylation and H2A.Z influence transcription remains largely unknown. Here we show that in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana regions of DNA methylation are quantitatively deficient in H2A.Z. Exclusion of H2A.Z is seen at sites of DNA methylation in the bodies of actively transcribed genes and in methylated transposons. Mutation of the MET1 DNA methyltransferase, which causes both losses and gains of DNA methylation, engenders opposite changes (gains and losses) in H2A.Z deposition, whereas mutation of the PIE1 subunit of the Swr1 complex that deposits H2A.Z leads to genome-wide hypermethylation. Our findings indicate that DNA methylation can influence chromatin structure and effect gene silencing by excluding H2A.Z, and that H2A.Z protects genes from DNA methylation.

Role of the DRM and CMT3 Methyltransferases in RNA-Directed DNA Methylation

RNA interference is a conserved process in which double-stranded RNA is processed into 21-25 nucleotide siRNAs that trigger posttranscriptional gene silencing. In addition, plants display a phenomenon termed RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) in which DNA with sequence identity to silenced RNA is de novo methylated at its cytosine residues. This methylation is not only at canonical CpG sites but also at cytosines in CpNpG and asymmetric sequence contexts. In this report, we study the role of the DRM and CMT3 DNA methyltransferase genes in the initiation and maintenance of RdDM. Neither drm nor cmt3 mutants affected the maintenance of preestablished RNA-directed CpG methylation. However, drm mutants showed a nearly complete loss of asymmetric methylation and a partial loss of CpNpG methylation. The remaining asymmetric and CpNpG methylation was dependent on the activity of CMT3, showing that DRM and CMT3 act redundantly to maintain non-CpG methylation. These DNA methyltransferases appear to act downstream of siRNAs, since drm1 drm2 cmt3 triple mutants show a lack of non-CpG methylation but elevated levels of siRNAs. Finally, we demonstrate that DRM activity is required for the initial establishment of RdDM in all sequence contexts including CpG, CpNpG, and asymmetric sites.

DNA demethylation in the Arabidopsis genome

Cytosine DNA methylation is considered to be a stable epigenetic mark, but active demethylation has been observed in both plants and animals. In Arabidopsis thaliana, DNA glycosylases of the DEMETER (DME) family remove methylcytosines from DNA. Demethylation by DME is necessary for genomic imprinting, and demethylation by a related protein, REPRESSOR OF SILENCING1, prevents gene silencing in a transgenic background. However, the extent and function of demethylation by DEMETER-LIKE (DML) proteins in WT plants is not known. Using genome-tiling microarrays, we mapped DNA methylation in mutant and WT plants and identified 179 loci actively demethylated by DML enzymes. Mutations in DML genes lead to locus-specific DNA hypermethylation. Reintroducing WT DML genes restores most loci to the normal pattern of methylation, although at some loci, hypermethylated epialleles persist. Of loci demethylated by DML enzymes, >80% are near or overlap genes. Genic demethylation by DML enzymes primarily occurs at the 5′ and 3′ ends, a pattern opposite to the overall distribution of WT DNA methylation. Our results show that demethylation by DML DNA glycosylases edits the patterns of DNA methylation within the Arabidopsis genome to protect genes from potentially deleterious methylation.

Active DNA Demethylation in Plant Companion Cells Reinforces Transposon Methylation in Gametes

Intergenerational Transposable Shutdown Transposable elements (TEs) are a potential threat, especially to the germline genome. In many eukaryotes, TEs are shut down by DNA methylation and/or small-RNA–mediated silencing. Therefore, it seems counterintuitive that results obtained by Ibarra et al. (p. 1360) on Arabidopsis showed that in the cells of this plants sexual apparatus, many small TEs are demethylated by DEMETER (DME) DNA glycosylase and become activated. But it turns out that activation of the TEs triggers the formation of small-interfering RNAs, which in these experiments were seen to travel from the surrounding cells to the egg. Thus, activation of TEs in the companion cells “immunizes” the gametes via the interfering RNAs that shutdown the TEs in the gametes permanently. Activation of transposable elements in the companion cells of plant gametes can silence transposable elements in the gamete. The Arabidopsis thaliana central cell, the companion cell of the egg, undergoes DNA demethylation before fertilization, but the targeting preferences, mechanism, and biological significance of this process remain unclear. Here, we show that active DNA demethylation mediated by the DEMETER DNA glycosylase accounts for all of the demethylation in the central cell and preferentially targets small, AT-rich, and nucleosome-depleted euchromatic transposable elements. The vegetative cell, the companion cell of sperm, also undergoes DEMETER-dependent demethylation of similar sequences, and lack of DEMETER in vegetative cells causes reduced small RNA–directed DNA methylation of transposons in sperm. Our results demonstrate that demethylation in companion cells reinforces transposon methylation in plant gametes and likely contributes to stable silencing of transposable elements across generations.

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation patterns

Cytosine methylation is the most common covalent modification of DNA in eukaryotes. DNA methylation has an important role in many aspects of biology, including development and disease. Methylation can be detected using bisulfite conversion, methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes, methyl-binding proteins and anti-methylcytosine antibodies. Combining these techniques with DNA microarrays and high-throughput sequencing has made the mapping of DNA methylation feasible on a genome-wide scale. Here we discuss recent developments and future directions for identifying and mapping methylation, in an effort to help colleagues to identify the approaches that best serve their research interests.

Regulation of imprinted gene expression in Arabidopsis endosperm

Imprinted genes are expressed primarily or exclusively from either the maternal or paternal allele, a phenomenon that occurs in flowering plants and mammals. Flowering plant imprinted gene expression has been described primarily in endosperm, a terminal nutritive tissue consumed by the embryo during seed development or after germination. Imprinted expression in Arabidopsis thaliana endosperm is orchestrated by differences in cytosine DNA methylation between the paternal and maternal genomes as well as by Polycomb group proteins. Currently, only 11 imprinted A. thaliana genes are known. Here, we use extensive sequencing of cDNA libraries to identify 9 paternally expressed and 34 maternally expressed imprinted genes in A. thaliana endosperm that are regulated by the DNA-demethylating glycosylase DEMETER, the DNA methyltransferase MET1, and/or the core Polycomb group protein FIE. These genes encode transcription factors, proteins involved in hormone signaling, components of the ubiquitin protein degradation pathway, regulators of histone and DNA methylation, and small RNA pathway proteins. We also identify maternally expressed genes that may be regulated by unknown mechanisms or deposited from maternal tissues. We did not detect any imprinted genes in the embryo. Our results show that imprinted gene expression is an extensive mechanistically complex phenomenon that likely affects multiple aspects of seed development.