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SUMMARY:Epigenetics and hidden heritability in tomato - Archana Singh
DTSTART:20211006T120000Z
DTEND:20211006T130000Z
UID:TALK162184@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Qi Wang
DESCRIPTION:\nEukaryotic genomes are covalently modified with a diverse se
 t of chromatin marks\, which are present on both the DNA and the associate
 d histones (Bird.\, 2007). These are often linked to silencing of transpos
 able elements (TEs) as part of a genome defence system (Law et al.\, 2011)
 . There are also effects of these modifications on gene expression\, chrom
 osome behaviour and differentiation of pericentric heterochromatin and dis
 tal euchromatin. Although these changes do not alter the primary DNA seque
 nce\, they are frequently heritable through cell division\, sometimes for 
 multiple generations\, and can thus often be classified as epigenetic mark
 s. These conserved epigenetic marks have been found to influence many aspe
 cts of gene expression and chromosome biology\, and they have characterist
 ic genomic distributions. In plants\, the regions of methylated DNA are ep
 igenetic marks and have potential to affect gene expression that are trans
 mitted between dividing cells of the same generation. Unlike mammals\, DNA
  methyltransferases in plants are active during gametogenesis and embryoge
 nesis so that patterns of DNA methylation can persist from parent to proge
 ny and do not need to be reset. \n\nHeritable epigenetic features can be g
 ained and lost\, similarly to mutational change and they will have been se
 lected by plant breeders and during adaptive change of natural populations
 .  The epigenetic features\, however\, may not be obviously associated wit
 h genetic markers and so they contribute to hidden heritability.  In our p
 roject\, we will find out the regions in tomato that are epigenetically he
 ritable. We will also find why there is DNA methylation in different regio
 ns of the genome and which of these regions are likely to influence gene e
 xpression. We will then define why it is that heritable stability of DNA m
 ethylation varies at different loci. We believe this project will help us 
 shape future strategies for epigenetic modification of plant genomes. It w
 ill also allow epigenetic modification to be evaluated as a future strateg
 y for crop improvement alongside gene editing\, speed breeding and GM. 
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