Abstract
Upward Curly Leaf 1 (UCL1) is an Arabidopsis thaliana E3 ligase that targets the Curly Leaf (CLF) SET-domain polycomb-group (PcG) protein for degradation via the ubiquitin-26S proteasome system. UCL1 is a paternally-expressed imprinted gene in the endosperm. To precisely locate the promoter elements required for UCL1 imprinting pattern, various gene constructs were created in which the imprinting control region (ICR), endosperm-specific expression (ENSE) element, and/or the linker sequence were altered. By fusing these constructs with a GUS reporter gene, GUS expression patterns were monitored after reciprocal crosses with wild-type Columbia-0 allowing the determination of parent-of-origin expression. Analysis of publicly-available data on the UCL1 promoter region facilitated the search for allele-specific DNA and H3K27 methylation patterns. Overall, three promoter elements are required for maternal repression of UCL1; the ICR sequence located from − 2.5 to − 2.4 kb upstream of the translation start site, a differentially methylated region 2 (DMR2) that overlaps the short ATLINE1-1 transposable element in the linker region, and a minimal 271 bp ENSE element. In addition, DNA methylation patterns in the DMR2 contribute to the repression of the maternal UCL1 allele. Our findings would help to understand how parent-of-origin epigenetic patterns are created and maintained in the endosperm.
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Acknowledgements
The work was supported by NRF of Korea (2015R1A2A2A01004095) to J.S.L. This work was also supported by NRF of Korea (2020R1A2C2009382) to Y.C. Both J.H. and J.L. were supported by the Stadelmann-Lee Scholarship Fund, Seoul National University.
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JH, YC, and JSL conceived and designed the study. JH, JL and CWJ performed the experiments. JH, JL, CWJ, JSB, YC and JSL analyzed the data. JSB and YC wrote the manuscript with the contribution of JH, JL, CWJ and JSL.
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12374_2020_9256_MOESM1_ESM.tif
Supplementary Figure S1. Allele-specific differentially methylated regions (DMR) of UCL1 5’ upstream in wild type and dme mutant endosperm. Percentage of CpG methylation in the DMR regions of the female (Col-0) and male (Ler) in the endosperm are shown. Whereas the silenced UCL1 maternal allele (Col-0) shows hypomethylaiton, the expressed paternal UCL1 allele (Ler) shows hypermethylation in the endosperm. In dme mutant, maternal allele shows increased methylation that results in the de-repression of the maternal allele (Jeong et al. 2015). The data were extracted from the published whole genome-wide DNA methylome in the endosperm (Ibarra et al. 2012) (TIF 1318 kb)
12374_2020_9256_MOESM2_ESM.tif
Supplementary Figure S2. H3K27me3 pattern in 5’ upstream region of UCL1. Red arrow indicates -1814 bp to -1478 bp upstream of UCL1 translation start codon, that is predicted to be differentially methylated region (DMR2). The pattern of H3K27me3 is found around the DMR2 without overlap with the DMR2 (TIF 878 kb)
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Hong, J., Lee, J., Jeong, C.W. et al. Identification of Elements Responsible for Maternally-Silenced Imprinted Gene Expression of Upward Curly Leaf1, an F-box Protein Gene that Regulates Curly Leaf in Arabidopsis. J. Plant Biol. 63, 337–346 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-020-09256-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-020-09256-4