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Role of H1 and DNA methylation in selective regulation of transposable elements during heat stress
Author(s) -
Liu Shujing,
Jonge Jennifer,
TrejoArellano Minerva S.,
SantosGonzález Juan,
Köhler Claudia,
Hennig Lars
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.17018
Subject(s) - dna methylation , transposable element , heterochromatin , biology , epigenetics , histone , heat stress , methylation , dna , genetics , bisulfite sequencing , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , chromatin , gene , gene expression , zoology
Summary Heat‐stressed Arabidopsis plants release heterochromatin‐associated transposable element (TE) silencing, yet it is not accompanied by major reductions of epigenetic repressive modifications. In this study, we explored the functional role of histone H1 in repressing heterochromatic TEs in response to heat stress. We generated and analyzed RNA and bisulfite‐sequencing data of wild‐type and h1 mutant seedlings before and after heat stress. Loss of H1 caused activation of pericentromeric Gypsy elements upon heat treatment, despite these elements remaining highly methylated. By contrast, nonpericentromeric Copia elements became activated concomitantly with loss of DNA methylation. The same Copia elements became activated in heat‐treated chromomethylase 2 ( cmt2 ) mutants, indicating that H1 represses Copia elements through maintaining DNA methylation under heat. We discovered that H1 is required for TE repression in response to heat stress, but its functional role differs depending on TE location. Strikingly, H1‐deficient plants treated with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor zebularine were highly tolerant to heat stress, suggesting that both H1 and DNA methylation redundantly suppress the plant response to heat stress.