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PMID: 19203581 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Epigenetic reprogramming and small RNA silencing of transposable elements in pollen.

Cell ·Vol. 136 ·No. 3 ·2009-02-06 ·Pages 461-72

Slotkin RK, Vaughn M, Borges F, Tanurdzić M, Becker JD, Feijó JA, Martienssen RA

Abstract

The mutagenic activity of transposable elements (TEs) is suppressed by epigenetic silencing and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), especially in gametes that could transmit transposed elements to the next generation. In pollen from the model plant Arabidopsis, we show that TEs are unexpectedly reactivated and transpose, but only in the pollen vegetative nucleus, which accompanies the sperm cells but does not provide DNA to the fertilized zygote. TE expression coincides with downregulation of the heterochromatin remodeler decrease in DNA methylation 1 and of many TE siRNAs. However, 21 nucleotide siRNAs from Athila retrotransposons are generated and accumulate in pollen and sperm, suggesting that siRNA from TEs activated in the vegetative nucleus can target silencing in gametes. We propose a conserved role for reprogramming in germline companion cells, such as nurse cells in insects and vegetative nuclei in plants, to reveal intact TEs in the genome and regulate their activity in gametes.

MeSH Terms
Arabidopsis/genetics,metabolism DNA Methylation DNA Transposable Elements Epigenesis, Genetic Gene Expression Profiling Gene Expression Regulation, Plant Pollen/genetics,metabolism RNA Interference
Chemicals
DNA Transposable Elements
Authors & Affiliations
7 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Slotkin R Keith
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Vaughn Matthew
Borges Filipe
Tanurdzić Milos
Becker Jörg D
Feijó José A
Martienssen Robert A
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Article Info
Journal
Cell
Abbr.
Cell
ISSN
1097-4172
DOI
10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.038
Published
2009-02-06
Pages
461-72
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0413066
PMCID
PMC2661848
Subset
IM
Grants
NCI NIH HHS · F32 CA125977 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM067014 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM067014-01A1 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.038 PMC Full Text View journal details
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