Conditional GWAS of non-CG transposon methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals major polymorphisms in five genes
Eriko Sasaki, Joanna Gunis, Ilka Reichardt, Viktoria Nizhynska, Magnus Nordborg
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed that the striking natural variation for DNA CHH-methylation (mCHH; H is A, T, or C) of transposons has oligogenic architecture involving major alleles at a handful of known methylation regulators. Here we use a conditional GWAS approach to show that CHG-methylation (mCHG) has a similar genetic architecture-once mCHH is statistically controlled for. We identify five key trans-regulators that appear to modulate mCHG levels, and show that they interact with a previously identified modifier of mCHH in regulating natural transposon mobilization.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyGenome-wide association studyTransposable elementGeneticsDNA methylationMethylationGenetic associationGenetic architectureArabidopsis thalianaArabidopsisGeneAlleleGenomeComputational biologyPhenotypeMutantSingle-nucleotide polymorphismGenotypeGene expressionPlant Molecular Biology ResearchChromosomal and Genetic VariationsPlant Virus Research Studies