Wenxiang Li1, Yi Yu1, Xuanrong Chen1, Qian Fang1, Anqi Yang1, Xinyu Chen1, Lei Wu1, Chengyu Wang1,2, Dechuan Wu1, Sihong Ye3, Dexiang Wu4, Genlou Sun5. 1. College of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, Anhui, China. 2. Key Laboratory of Wheat Biology and Genetic Improvement on South Yellow and Huai River Valley, Ministry of Agriculture, Hefei, 230036, China. 3. Cotton Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230001, Anhui, China. 56994515@qq.com. 4. College of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, Anhui, China. dexiangwu198@ahau.edu.cn. 5. Biology Department, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS, B3H 3C3, Canada. Genlou.Sun@smu.ca.
Abstract
MAIN CONCLUSION: More methylation changes occur in late interval than in early interval of wheat seed development with protein and the starch synthesis-related pathway enriched in the later stages. Wheat seed development is a critical process to determining wheat yield and quality, which is controlled by genetics, epigenetics and environments. The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a reversible and dynamic process and plays regulatory role in plant development and stress responses. To better understand the role of m6A in wheat grain development, we characterized the m6A modification at 10 day post-anthesis (DPA), 20 DPA and 30 DPA in wheat grain development. m6A-seq identified 30,615, 30,326, 27,676 high confidence m6A peaks from the 10DPA, 20DPA, and 30DPA, respectively, and enriched at 3'UTR. There were 29,964, 29,542 and 26,834 unique peaks identified in AN0942_10d, AN0942_20d and AN0942_30d. One hundred and forty-two genes were methylated by m6A throughout seed development, 940 genes methylated in early grain development (AN0942_20d vs AN0942_10d), 1542 genes in late grain development (AN0942_30d vs AN0942_20d), and 1190 genes between early and late development stage (AN0942_30d vs AN0942_10d). KEGG enrichment analysis found that protein-related pathways and the starch synthesis-related pathway were significantly enriched in the later stages of seed development. Our results provide novel knowledge on m6A dynamic changes and its roles in wheat grain development.
MAIN CONCLUSION: More methylation changes occur in late interval than in early interval of wheat seed development with protein and the starch synthesis-related pathway enriched in the later stages. Wheat seed development is a critical process to determining wheat yield and quality, which is controlled by genetics, epigenetics and environments. The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a reversible and dynamic process and plays regulatory role in plant development and stress responses. To better understand the role of m6A in wheat grain development, we characterized the m6A modification at 10 day post-anthesis (DPA), 20 DPA and 30 DPA in wheat grain development. m6A-seq identified 30,615, 30,326, 27,676 high confidence m6A peaks from the 10DPA, 20DPA, and 30DPA, respectively, and enriched at 3'UTR. There were 29,964, 29,542 and 26,834 unique peaks identified in AN0942_10d, AN0942_20d and AN0942_30d. One hundred and forty-two genes were methylated by m6A throughout seed development, 940 genes methylated in early grain development (AN0942_20d vs AN0942_10d), 1542 genes in late grain development (AN0942_30d vs AN0942_20d), and 1190 genes between early and late development stage (AN0942_30d vs AN0942_10d). KEGG enrichment analysis found that protein-related pathways and the starch synthesis-related pathway were significantly enriched in the later stages of seed development. Our results provide novel knowledge on m6A dynamic changes and its roles in wheat grain development.
Authors: Laura-Jayne Gardiner; Mark Quinton-Tulloch; Lisa Olohan; Jonathan Price; Neil Hall; Anthony Hall Journal: Genome Biol Date: 2015-12-10 Impact factor: 13.583