Artículos de revistas
Extensive Natural Epigenetic Variation At A De Novo Originated Gene.
Registro en:
Plos Genetics. v. 9, n. 4, p. e1003437, 2013-Apr.
1553-7404
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003437
23593031
Autor
Silveira, Amanda Bortolini
Trontin, Charlotte
Cortijo, Sandra
Barau, Joan
Del Bem, Luiz Eduardo Vieira
Loudet, Olivier
Colot, Vincent
Vincentz, Michel
Institución
Resumen
Epigenetic variation, such as heritable changes of DNA methylation, can affect gene expression and thus phenotypes, but examples of natural epimutations are few and little is known about their stability and frequency in nature. Here, we report that the gene Qua-Quine Starch (QQS) of Arabidopsis thaliana, which is involved in starch metabolism and that originated de novo recently, is subject to frequent epigenetic variation in nature. Specifically, we show that expression of this gene varies considerably among natural accessions as well as within populations directly sampled from the wild, and we demonstrate that this variation correlates negatively with the DNA methylation level of repeated sequences located within the 5'end of the gene. Furthermore, we provide extensive evidence that DNA methylation and expression variants can be inherited for several generations and are not linked to DNA sequence changes. Taken together, these observations provide a first indication that de novo originated genes might be particularly prone to epigenetic variation in their initial stages of formation. 9 e1003437