The MBD7 complex promotes expression of methylated transgenes without significantly altering their methylation status

DNA methylation is associated with gene silencing in eukaryotic organisms. Although pathways controlling the establishment, maintenance and removal of DNA methylation are known, relatively little is understood about how DNA methylation influences gene expression. Here we identified a METHYL-CpG-BIND...

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Published in:eLife 2017-04, Vol.6
Main Authors: Li, Dongming, Palanca, Ana Marie S, Won, So Youn, Gao, Lei, Feng, Ying, Vashisht, Ajay A, Liu, Li, Zhao, Yuanyuan, Liu, Xigang, Wu, Xiuyun, Li, Shaofang, Le, Brandon, Kim, Yun Ju, Yang, Guodong, Li, Shengben, Liu, Jinyuan, Wohlschlegel, James A, Guo, Hongwei, Mo, Beixin, Chen, Xuemei, Law, Julie A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arabidopsis
Biology
CpG islands
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA Methylation
DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Gene silencing
Genes and Chromosomes
Genes, Reporter
Genomes
HSP20
Laboratories
Life sciences
Luciferases - analysis
Medical research
Methyl-CpG-Binding Domain (MBD)
Plant Biology
Plant Proteins - metabolism
Proteins
RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM)
transcriptional gene silencing
Transgenes
α-crystallin domain (ACD)
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Summary:DNA methylation is associated with gene silencing in eukaryotic organisms. Although pathways controlling the establishment, maintenance and removal of DNA methylation are known, relatively little is understood about how DNA methylation influences gene expression. Here we identified a METHYL-CpG-BINDING DOMAIN 7 (MBD7) complex in that suppresses the transcriptional silencing of two ( reporters via a mechanism that is largely downstream of DNA methylation. Although mutations in components of the MBD7 complex resulted in modest increases in DNA methylation concomitant with decreased expression, we found that these hyper-methylation and gene expression phenotypes can be genetically uncoupled. This finding, along with genome-wide profiling experiments showing minimal changes in DNA methylation upon disruption of the MBD7 complex, places the MBD7 complex amongst a small number of factors acting downstream of DNA methylation. This complex, however, is unique as it functions to suppress, rather than enforce, DNA methylation-mediated gene silencing.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.19893