Abstract
DNA methylation is known to involve in the regulation of gene expression. In animals, it is known that the hypomethylation of DNA leads to the aberrant embryogenesis with abnormal expression of embryogenesis-related genes. On the other hand, in plants, there is limited information about the relation between DNA methylation and embryogenesis.
In this study, we investigated the relation between DNA methylation and expression of embryogenesis-related genes (e.g. LEC1, ABI3 and FUS3) in Arabidopsis. The expression of embryogenesis-related genes were analyzed in various tissues (cotyledon, apical explant, rosette leaf, root, flower bud, flower and somatic embryo) of mutants deficient in DNA-methylation-related genes (e.g. ddm1 and cmt3). Some genes showed different expression profiles in the mutants as compared to the wild type. This result suggests that DNA methylation might involve in the regulation of expression of embryogenesis-related genes.
