Abstract
It is known DNA methylation controls expression of some genes during endosperm development. However, it remains to be clarified whether DNA methylation controls expression of embryogenesis-related genes in higher plants. In this study, we investigated DNA methylation status of FUS3 locus during seed maturation in Arabidopsis.
From Methylome database, it was found the upstream region of FUS3 is methylated. The FUS3 5'-upstream region showed a hypermethylation in mature seed. To test whether the hypermethylation of the FUS3 5'-upstream region down-regulates expression of FUS3 we made transgenic lines, which were induced the hypermethylation on this region. By the analyses of the transgenic lines, FUS3 expression level showed a negative correlation to DNA methylation level. Furthermore, we examined the contribution of DNA methyltransferase for de novo DNA methylation at the FUS3 5'-upstream region by using some mutants. As a result, it was found that DRM2 is involved in de novo DNA methylation at the region during seed maturation. From these results, we suggested that DNA methylation via DRM2 is involved in the control of FUS3 expression during seed maturation in Arabidopsis.
