A transposon-induced epigenetic change leads to sex determination in melon Export

@article{citeulike:5983123, abstract = {Sex determination in plants leads to the development of unisexual flowers from an originally bisexual floral meristem1, 2. This mechanism results in the enhancement of outcrossing and promotes genetic variability, the consequences of which are advantageous to the evolution of a species3. In melon, sexual forms are controlled by identity of the alleles at the andromonoecious (a) and gynoecious (g) loci4. We previously showed that the a gene encodes an ethylene biosynthesis enzyme, CmACS-7, that represses stamen development in female flowers5. Here we show that the transition from male to female flowers in gynoecious lines results from epigenetic changes in the promoter of a transcription factor, CmWIP1. This natural and heritable epigenetic change resulted from the insertion of a transposon, which is required for initiation and maintenance of the spreading of DNA methylation to the CmWIP1 promoter. Expression of CmWIP1 leads to carpel abortion, resulting in the development of unisexual male flowers. Moreover, we show that CmWIP1 indirectly represses the expression of the andromonoecious gene, CmACS-7, to allow stamen development. Together our data indicate a model in which CmACS-7 and CmWIP1 interact to control the development of male, female and hermaphrodite flowers in melon.}, author = {Martin, Antoine and Troadec, Christelle and Boualem, Adnane and Rajab, Mazen and Fernandez, Ronan and Morin, Halima and Pitrat, Michel and Dogimont, Catherine and Bendahmane, Abdelhafid}, citeulike-article-id = {5983123}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08498}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08498}, day = {22}, doi = {10.1038/nature08498}, issn = {0028-0836}, journal = {Nature}, keywords = {epigenetics, expression, plants, promoter, repeats, sex}, month = {October}, number = {7267}, pages = {1135--1138}, posted-at = {2009-10-21 22:14:59}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, title = {A transposon-induced epigenetic change leads to sex determination in melon}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08498}, volume = {461}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5983123 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5983123 N2 - Sex determination in plants leads to the development of unisexual flowers from an originally bisexual floral meristem1, 2. This mechanism results in the enhancement of outcrossing and promotes genetic variability, the consequences of which are advantageous to the evolution of a species3. In melon, sexual forms are controlled by identity of the alleles at the andromonoecious (a) and gynoecious (g) loci4. We previously showed that the a gene encodes an ethylene biosynthesis enzyme, CmACS-7, that represses stamen development in female flowers5. Here we show that the transition from male to female flowers in gynoecious lines results from epigenetic changes in the promoter of a transcription factor, CmWIP1. This natural and heritable epigenetic change resulted from the insertion of a transposon, which is required for initiation and maintenance of the spreading of DNA methylation to the CmWIP1 promoter. Expression of CmWIP1 leads to carpel abortion, resulting in the development of unisexual male flowers. Moreover, we show that CmWIP1 indirectly represses the expression of the andromonoecious gene, CmACS-7, to allow stamen development. Together our data indicate a model in which CmACS-7 and CmWIP1 interact to control the development of male, female and hermaphrodite flowers in melon. IS - 7267 JF - Nature SN - 0028-0836 EP - 1138 TI - A transposon-induced epigenetic change leads to sex determination in melon PB - Nature Publishing Group VL - 461 SP - 1135 KW - epigenetics KW - expression KW - plants KW - promoter KW - repeats KW - sex AU - Martin, Antoine AU - Troadec, Christelle AU - Boualem, Adnane AU - Rajab, Mazen AU - Fernandez, Ronan AU - Morin, Halima AU - Pitrat, Michel AU - Dogimont, Catherine AU - Bendahmane, Abdelhafid PY - 2009/10/22/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08498 ER -