Salt Stress Induces Non-CG Methylation in Coding Regions of Barley Seedlings (Hordeum vulgare)
by
Moumouni Konate 1,2
, Michael J. Wilkinson 3,*, Benjamin T. Mayne 4, Stephen M. Pederson 5, Eileen S. Scott 2, Bettina Berger 6 and Carlos M. Rodriguez Lopez 2,7,*
Moumouni Konate 1,2, Michael J. Wilkinson 3,*, Benjamin T. Mayne 4, Stephen M. Pederson 5, Eileen S. Scott 2, Bettina Berger 6 and Carlos M. Rodriguez Lopez 2,7,*
1
Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherche Agricole (INERA), Station de Farako-Ba, 01 BP 910 Bobo-Dioulasso 01, Burkina Faso
2
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
3
Pwllpeiran Upland Research Centre, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3FG, UK
4
Robinson Research Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
5
Bioinformatics Hub, School of Biological sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
6
The Plant Accelerator, Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
7
Environmental Epigenetics and Genetics Group, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Epigenomes 2018, 2(2), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/epigenomes2020012
Received: 24 April 2018 / Revised: 5 June 2018 / Accepted: 7 June 2018 / Published: 20 June 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Epigenome Dynamics)
Salinity can negatively impact crop growth and yield. Changes in DNA methylation are known to occur when plants are challenged by stress and have been associated with the regulation of stress-response genes. However, the role of DNA-methylation in moderating gene expression in response to salt stress has been relatively poorly studied among crops such as barley. Here, we assessed the extent of salt-induced alterations of DNA methylation in barley and their putative role in perturbed gene expression. Using Next Generation Sequencing, we screened the leaf and root methylomes of five divergent barley varieties grown under control and three salt concentrations, to seek genotype independent salt-induced changes in DNA methylation. Salt stress caused increased methylation in leaves but diminished methylation in roots with a higher number of changes in leaves than in roots, indicating that salt induced changes to global methylation are organ specific. Differentially Methylated Markers (DMMs) were mostly located in close proximity to repeat elements, but also in 1094 genes, of which many possessed gene ontology (GO) terms associated with plant responses to stress. Identified markers have potential value as sentinels of salt stress and provide a starting point to allow understanding of the functional role of DNA methylation in facilitating barley’s response to this stressor.
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Keywords:
epigenetics; differentially methylated markers (DMMs); LEAVES; roots; DNA methylation; salinity stress; barley
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
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MDPI and ACS Style
Konate, M.; Wilkinson, M.J.; Mayne, B.T.; Pederson, S.M.; Scott, E.S.; Berger, B.; Rodriguez Lopez, C.M. Salt Stress Induces Non-CG Methylation in Coding Regions of Barley Seedlings (Hordeum vulgare). Epigenomes 2018, 2, 12.
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