Genome integrity is continuously threatened by external stresses and endogenous hazards such as DNA replication errors and reactive oxygen species. The DNA damage checkpoint in metazoans ensures genome integrity by delaying cell-cycle progression to repair damaged DNA or by inducing apoptosis. ATM and ATR (ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated and -Rad3-related) are sensor kinases that relay the damage signal to transducer kinases Chk1 and Chk2 and to downstream cell-cycle regulators. Plants also possess ATM and ATR orthologs but lack obvious counterparts of downstream regulators. Instead, the plant-specific transcription factor SOG1 (suppressor of gamma response 1) plays a central role in the transmission of signals from both ATM and ATR kinases. Here we show that in Arabidopsis, endoreduplication is induced by DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but not directly by DNA replication stress. When root or sepal cells, or undifferentiated suspension cells, were treated with DSB inducers, they displayed increased cell size and DNA ploidy. We found that the ATM-SOG1 and ATR-SOG1 pathways both transmit DSB-derived signals and that either one suffices for endocycle induction. These signaling pathways govern the expression of distinct sets of cell-cycle regulators, such as cyclin-dependent kinases and their suppressors. Our results demonstrate that Arabidopsis undergoes a programmed endoreduplicative response to DSBs, suggesting that plants have evolved a distinct strategy to sustain growth under genotoxic stress.root meristem | protein degradation D amaged DNA needs to be repaired to prevent loss or incorrect transmission of genetic information. Eukaryotic DNA damage checkpoints delay or arrest the cell cycle to provide time for DNA repair before the cell enters a new round of DNA replication or mitosis (1). In metazoans, ATM and ATR (ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated and -Rad3-related) are sensor kinases that play a crucial role in the checkpoint system. ATM specifically responds to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), and ATR primarily senses replication stress caused by a persistent block of replication fork progression. ATM deficiency confers hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation (2), whereas ATR knockout mutation is lethal (3, 4), and dominant-negative cell lines display hypersensitivity to UVB light, gamma radiation, hydroxyurea (HU), and aphidicolin (5, 6). ATM and ATR relay the damage signal to transducer kinases Chk2 and Chk1, respectively, which then amplify the signal and regulate an overlapping set of substrates that trigger cell-cycle arrest and DNA repair (1). The transcription factor p53, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21, and Cdc25 phosphatase are downstream regulators that control cell-cycle arrest in response to DNA damage.Comparative sequence analyses among plants, yeast, and animals indicate that some of the factors involved in DNA damage checkpoint and DSB repair systems are conserved between vertebrates and plants (7). Plants also possess ATM and ATR orthologs, and knockout mutants show similar phenotypes...

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8568-7125 (J.B-S.).Agrobacterium rhizogenes (or Rhizobium rhizogenes) is able to transform plant genomes and induce the production of hairy roots. We describe the use of A. rhizogenes in tomato (Solanum spp.) to rapidly assess gene expression and function. Gene expression of reporters is indistinguishable in plants transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens as compared with A. rhizogenes. A root cell type-and tissue-specific promoter resource has been generated for domesticated and wild tomato (Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum pennellii, respectively) using these approaches. Imaging of tomato roots using A. rhizogenes coupled with laser scanning confocal microscopy is facilitated by the use of a membrane-tagged protein fused to a red fluorescent protein marker present in binary vectors. Tomatooptimized isolation of nuclei tagged in specific cell types and translating ribosome affinity purification binary vectors were generated and used to monitor associated messenger RNA abundance or chromatin modification. Finally, transcriptional reporters, translational reporters, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated nuclease9 genome editing demonstrate that SHORT-ROOT and SCARECROW gene function is conserved between Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and tomato.

Differential cytosine methylation of genes and transposons is important for maintaining integrity of plant genomes. In Arabidopsis, transposons are heavily methylated at both CG and non-CG sites, whereas the non-CG methylation is rarely found in active genes. Our previous genetic analysis suggested that a jmjC domain-containing protein IBM1 (increase in BONSAI methylation 1) prevents ectopic deposition of non-CG methylation, and this process is necessary for normal Arabidopsis development. Here, we directly determined the genomic targets of IBM1 through high-resolution genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation. The ibm1 mutation induced extensive hyper-methylation in thousands of genes. Transposons were unaffected. Notably, long transcribed genes were most severely affected. Methylation of genes is limited to CG sites in wild type, but CHG sites were also methylated in the ibm1 mutant. The ibm1-induced hyper-methylation did not depend on previously characterized components of the RNAi-based DNA methylation machinery. Our results suggest novel transcription-coupled mechanisms to direct genic methylation not only at CG but also at CHG sites. IBM1 prevents the CHG methylation in genes, but not in transposons.

In diverse eukaryotes, constitutively silent sequences, such as transposons and repeats, are marked by methylation at histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9me). Although selective H3K9me is critical for maintaining genome integrity, mechanisms to exclude H3K9me from active genes remain largely unexplored. Here, we show in Arabidopsis that the exclusion depends on a histone demethylase gene, IBM1 (increase in BONSAI methylation). Loss-of-function ibm1 mutation results in ectopic H3K9me and non-CG methylation in thousands of genes. The ibm1-induced genic H3K9me depends on both histone methylase KYP/SUVH4 and DNA methylase CMT3, suggesting interdependence of two epigenetic marks-H3K9me and non-CG methylation. Notably, IBM1 enhances loss of H3K9me in transcriptionally de-repressed sequences. Furthermore, disruption of transcription in genes induces ectopic non-CG methylation, which mimics the loss of IBM1 function. We propose that active chromatin is stabilized by an autocatalytic loop of transcription and H3K9 demethylation. This process counteracts a similarly autocatalytic accumulation of silent epigenetic marks, H3K9me and non-CG methylation.

In plant meristems, each cell divides and differentiates in a spatially and temporally regulated manner, and continuous organogenesis occurs using cells derived from the meristem. We report the identification of the Arabidopsis thaliana TEBICHI (TEB) gene, which is required for regulated cell division and differentiation in meristems. The teb mutants show morphological defects, such as short roots, serrated leaves, and fasciation, as well as defective patterns of cell division and differentiation in the meristem. The TEB gene encodes a homolog of Drosophila MUS308 and mammalian DNA polymerase u, which prevent spontaneous or DNA damage-induced production of DNA double strand breaks. As expected from the function of animal homologs, teb mutants show constitutively activated DNA damage responses. Unlike other fasciation mutants with activated DNA damage responses, however, teb mutants do not activate transcriptionally silenced genes. teb shows an accumulation of cells expressing cyclinB1;1:GUS in meristems, suggesting that constitutively activated DNA damage responses in teb lead to a defect in G2/M cell cycle progression. Furthermore, other fasciation mutants, such as fasciata2 and tonsoku/mgoun3/ brushy1, also show an accumulation of cells expressing cyclinB1;1:GUS in meristems. These results suggest that cell cycle progression at G2/M is important for the regulation of the pattern of cell division and of differentiation during plant development.