DNA demethylation during Chrysanthemum floral transition following short-day treatment

Background: Analytical techniques such as methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to detect variation in DNA methylation of mature Chrysanthemum leaves during the floral transition induced by short-day (SD) treatment. Results: For both early- and late-flowering cultivars, the time from the date of planting to the appearance of the capitulum bud and early blooming were significantly shorter than those of the control. The capitulum development of the early-flowering cultivar was significantly accelerated compared to the control, unlike the late-flowering cultivar. The DNA methylation percentage of leaves was significantly altered during flower development. For the early-flowering cultivar, DNA methylation was 42.2-51.3% before the capitulum bud appeared and 30.5-44.5% after. The respective DNA methylation percentages for the late-flowering cultivar were 43.5-56% and 37.2-44.9%. Conclusions: The DNA methylation percentage of Chrysanthemum leaves decreased significantly during floral development. The decline in DNA methylation was elevated in the early-flowering cultivar compared with the late-flowering cultivar.

Effect of nickel chloride on Arabidopsis genomic DNA and methylation of 18S rDNA

Background In recent years, nickel (Ni) has been widely applied in industrial and agricultural production and has become a kind of environmental pollution. In this study, the effect of nickel chloride (NiCl2) with different concentrations on Arabidopsis genomic stability and DNA methylation has been demonstrated. The nucleolus variation and 18S rDNA methylation after NiCl2 treatment have been analyzed. Results The results are as follows: (1) The NiCl2 could result in heritable genomic methylation variations. The genomic DNA methylation variations have been detected by methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) molecular markers, and the result showed that after NiCl2 treatment, there was methylation variation in T0 generation seedlings, and partial site changes maintained in T1 generation, which suggested that the effects of NiCl2 on DNA methylation could be heritable in offspring. (2) NiCl2 brought deformity and damage to nucleolar structure in Arabidopsis root tip cells, and the damage was positively correlated with the NiCl2 concentration. 3. In the nucleolus, there was an increased cytosine methylation in 18S rDNA. The plant nucleolus variation and 18S rDNA methylation may be used as an examination indicator for Ni pollution in soil or plant. Conclusions NiCl2 application caused variation of DNA methylation of the Arabidopsis genomic and offspring's. NiCl2 also resulted in nucleolar injury and deformity of root tip cells. The methylation rate of 18S rDNA also changed by adding NiCl2.

Effect of cryopreservation on the efficiency of exogenous gene, genetic transformation and expression level of Arabidopsis thaliana

Background: Cryopreservation refers to the storage of a living organism at ultra-low-temperature for long-term preservation of plant germplasm. The effect of cryopreservation on the efficiency of exogenous gene genetic transformation and expression level were studied herein. In this work, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana were successfully conserved in vitro by cryopreservation methods. Results: The effects of osmotic stress due to cryoprotectants during pretreatment and of storage at -196ºC on the stability, the efficiency of genetic transformation and the expression level of exogenous gene were analyzed in Arabidopsis. The results showed that there had not any significant increasing in the efficiency of genetic transformation after cryopreservation, and our observation was not in agreement with earlier reports. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines over-expressing ATOST1 gene were used for the real-time PCR analysis, and the result indicated that the expression of the ATOST1 gene was up-regulated about 2.4-fold in the transgenic seedlings tissues retrieved from cryopreservation than those non-cryopreserved counterparts. Conclusions： Cryopreservation could improve the expression of exogenous gene, however, could not promote the genetic transformation obviously.