Differential Methylation Patterns in Apomictic vs. Sexual Genotypes of the Diplosporous Grass Eragrostis curvula

Carballo, José Luís; Zappacosta, Diego; Marconi, G.; Gallardo, Jimena; Marsico, Marco Di; Gallo, Cristian; Cáccamo, Mario; Albertini, Emidio; Echenique, Viviana

doi:10.3390/plants10050946

Cited by 6 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Even more, some of these genes were found differentially expressed between male and female germlines [ 111 , 112 ]. Several authors assume that apomixis emerges as a consequence of the repression of sexual processes [ 46 , 48 , 56 , 58 ], and epigenetics was pointed out as the cause of this repression since the process could be reversible, modulating the percentage of apomictic embryo sacs under certain conditions.…”

Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DMT102 , which is also called ZMET2 in Z. mays , is responsible for the maintenance of methylation in CHG contexts [ 123 ], and the orthologous gene of CHR106 , DDM1 from A. thaliana , allows DNA methyltransferases to access H1-containing heterochromatin in A. thaliana [ 124 ]. Even when the overall methylation level in the sexual genotype is lower than in the apomictic ones [ 46 ], some genes such as DMT102 that are responsible for the maintenance of methylation are more expressed in sexual genotypes. A plausible explanation could be that DMT102 silences other genes involved in sexuality repression.…”

Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The whole methylation profile was assessed in inflorescences of E. curvula of full apomictic, facultative and sexual tetraploid genotypes using MCSeEd (Methylation Context-Sensitive Enzyme ddRad) technique [ 46 ]. The differentially methylated positions between full apomictic vs. sexual, facultative apomictic vs. sexual, and full apomictic vs. facultative genotypes were evaluated in CG, CHG, CHH, and A contexts.…”

Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second report was in 1963 [ 25 ], and after that, in the 1970s, apomixis in E. curvula was described in detail [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. These findings were the foundation for further investigations of the reproductive mode of E. curvula , and several studies have been published since then using different approaches, such as tissue culture [ 29 ], molecular markers [ 30 ], development of near-isogenic genotypes with different ploidy levels by in vitro culture [ 31 , 32 ], transcriptomics [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], genotyping [ 36 , 37 ], genomics [ 38 , 39 ], and epigenomics [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely accepted that apomixis evolved as a modification of the sexual pathway in which the silence or failure of mechanisms such sa meiosis lead to the rise of apomixis [ 46 , 48 , 56 ]. However, other polyphenics theories suggest that apomixis and sexuality coexisted anciently, and full sexual eukaryote species lost the genetic or epigenetic mechanism controlling the switch to increase sexuality under biotic or abiotic stresses [ 57 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eragrostis curvula, a Model Species for Diplosporous Apomixis

Carballo

Zappacosta

Selva

et al. 2021

Plants

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Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Ness is a grass with a particular apomictic embryo sac development called Eragrostis type. Apomixis is a type of asexual reproduction that produces seeds without fertilization in which the resulting progeny is genetically identical to the mother plant and with the potential to fix the hybrid vigour from more than one generation, among other advantages. The absence of meiosis and the occurrence of only two rounds of mitosis instead of three during embryo sac development make this model unique and suitable to be transferred to economically important crops. Throughout this review, we highlight the advances in the knowledge of apomixis in E. curvula using different techniques such as cytoembryology, DNA methylation analyses, small-RNA-seq, RNA-seq, genome assembly, and genotyping by sequencing. The main bulk of evidence points out that apomixis is inherited as a single Mendelian factor, and it is regulated by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms controlled by a complex network. With all this information, we propose a model of the mechanisms involved in diplosporous apomixis in this grass. All the genetic and epigenetic resources generated in E. curvula to study the reproductive mode changed its status from an orphan to a well-characterised species.

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Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epigenetics Regulation Of Apomixismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Eragrostis curvula, a Model Species for Diplosporous Apomixis

Carballo

Zappacosta

Selva

et al. 2021

Plants

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Differentially methylated genes involved in reproduction and ploidy levels in recent diploidized and tetraploidized Eragrostis curvula genotypes

Carballo,

Achilli,

Hernández

et al. 2023

Plant Reprod

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Epigenetics studies changes in gene activity without changes in the DNA sequence. Methylation is an epigenetic mechanism important in many pathways, such as biotic and abiotic stresses, cell division, and reproduction. Eragrostis curvula is a grass species reproducing by apomixis, a clonal reproduction by seeds. This work employed the MCSeEd technique to identify deferentially methylated positions, regions, and genes in the CG, CHG, and CHH contexts in E. curvula genotypes with similar genomic backgrounds but with different reproductive modes and ploidy levels. In this way, we focused the analysis on the cvs. Tanganyika INTA (4x, apomictic), Victoria (2x, sexual), and Bahiense (4x, apomictic). Victoria was obtained from the diploidization of Tanganyika INTA, while Bahiense was produced from the tetraploidization of Victoria. This study showed that polyploid/apomictic genotypes had more differentially methylated positions and regions than the diploid sexual ones. Interestingly, it was possible to observe fewer differentially methylated positions and regions in CG than in the other contexts, meaning CG methylation is conserved across the genotypes regardless of the ploidy level and reproductive mode. In the comparisons between sexual and apomictic genotypes, we identified differentially methylated genes involved in the reproductive pathways, specifically in meiosis, cell division, and fertilization. Another interesting observation was that several differentially methylated genes between the diploid and the original tetraploid genotype recovered their methylation status after tetraploidization, suggesting that methylation is an important mechanism involved in reproduction and ploidy changes.

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Genetic Transformation of Apomictic Grasses: Progress and Constraints

et al. 2021

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The available methods for plant transformation and expansion beyond its limits remain especially critical for crop improvement. For grass species, this is even more critical, mainly due to drawbacks in in vitro regeneration. Despite the existence of many protocols in grasses to achieve genetic transformation through Agrobacterium or biolistic gene delivery, their efficiencies are genotype-dependent and still very low due to the recalcitrance of these species to in vitro regeneration. Many plant transformation facilities for cereals and other important crops may be found around the world in universities and enterprises, but this is not the case for apomictic species, many of which are C4 grasses. Moreover, apomixis (asexual reproduction by seeds) represents an additional constraint for breeding. However, the transformation of an apomictic clone is an attractive strategy, as the transgene is immediately fixed in a highly adapted genetic background, capable of large-scale clonal propagation. With the exception of some species like Brachiaria brizantha which is planted in approximately 100 M ha in Brazil, apomixis is almost non-present in economically important crops. However, as it is sometimes present in their wild relatives, the main goal is to transfer this trait to crops to fix heterosis. Until now this has been a difficult task, mainly because many aspects of apomixis are unknown. Over the last few years, many candidate genes have been identified and attempts have been made to characterize them functionally in Arabidopsis and rice. However, functional analysis in true apomictic species lags far behind, mainly due to the complexity of its genomes, of the trait itself, and the lack of efficient genetic transformation protocols. In this study, we review the current status of the in vitro culture and genetic transformation methods focusing on apomictic grasses, and the prospects for the application of new tools assayed in other related species, with two aims: to pave the way for discovering the molecular pathways involved in apomixis and to develop new capacities for breeding purposes because many of these grasses are important forage or biofuel resources.

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Differential Methylation Patterns in Apomictic vs. Sexual Genotypes of the Diplosporous Grass Eragrostis curvula

Cited by 6 publications

References 77 publications

Eragrostis curvula, a Model Species for Diplosporous Apomixis

Eragrostis curvula, a Model Species for Diplosporous Apomixis

Differentially methylated genes involved in reproduction and ploidy levels in recent diploidized and tetraploidized Eragrostis curvula genotypes

Genetic Transformation of Apomictic Grasses: Progress and Constraints

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