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Unlocking the epigenome for crop improvement Development project
Description:
Phenotypic variation within organisms is driven primarily by genetic diversity. However, there is a growing appreciation that epigenetic variation, resulting from a multitude of diverse chemical modifications to the DNA and chromatin, can have profound effects on phenotype. Large-scale interrogation of epigenome inheritance in Arabidopsis has revealed that spontaneous variation in DNA methylation occurs at a rate that is orders of magnitude greater than genetic mutation, indicating the key importance of epigenetic variation during evolution. Thus, there is a potential for epigenetics to play a role in crop improvement, including regulation of transgene expression and creation of novel epialleles.
My lab has established a research collaboration with Dr. Xiangqing Zhang at the South China Agriculture University to study several epigenetic mutants in rice. Dr. Zhang is a rice breeder and his group has identified several rice mutant lines that were caused by epigenetic purtubrations. He is currently a visiting scholar in my lab (since April 2015). We have been collaborating on several projects to explore epigenetic mechanisms regulating important rice traits. To achieve that, we germinated rice seeds in the presence of DNA methylation inhibitor, 5-aza-cytidine (or 5-aza-C), for two days. The treated plants are currently growing in a test field in South China. We design strategy to assess DNA methylation levels in these treated rice plants, and will use them to perform reciprocal crosses with wt rice plants to investigate whether parent-specific genome hypomethylation can affect seed size in rice.
Region(s)/Country(s):
China-Peoples Rep
Dates:
04/29/2015 - 12/30/2016
Institutional Partner(s):
South China Agricultural University, China
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