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DNA methylation of sex chromosomes in a dioecious plant, Melandrium album

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Abstract

Melandrium album, a dioecious plant species, has two heteromorphic sex chromosomes with the XY constitution typical for male and the XX for female plants. This plant represents an experimental model system of sex determination in which the Y chromosome plays a strongly dominant male role. We present data on the overall transcriptional activities of M. album sex chromosomes. DNA methylation patterns were analysed directly at the level of chromosomes using in situ nick-translation of fixed root mitotic chromosomes after nuclease digestion and in vivo labelling with S-adenosyl-l-[methyl-3H] methionine as donor of methyl groups. Both techniques revealed that the two X chromosomes of female plants had different levels of DNA methylation. Cell treatment with a DNA hypomethylating drug, 5-azacytidine, significantly influenced the labelling densities. These results imply that in female M. album plants, one of the two X chromosomes may be hypermethylated and inactive as described for mammalian cells (Lyon hypothesis). A similar analysis made on male cells displayed a similar relative levels of methylation in autosomes and sex chromosomes, thus indicating the transcriptional activity of both Y and X male chromosomes.

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Author notes

  1. Boris Vyskot

    Present address: Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 61265, Brno, Czechoslovakia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Université de Bordeaux II, F-33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Boris Vyskot, Ioan Negrutiu & Armand Mouras

  2. Institut de Biochimie Cellulaire, CNRS, F-33077, Bordeaux Cedex, France

    Alejandro Araya & Armand Mouras

  3. Plamengenetica, Instituut voor Moleculaire Biologie, B-1640, St Genesius Rode, Belgium

    Jacky Veuskens

Authors
  1. Boris Vyskot
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  2. Alejandro Araya
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  3. Jacky Veuskens
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  4. Ioan Negrutiu
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  5. Armand Mouras
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Additional information

Communicated by H. Saedler

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Vyskot, B., Araya, A., Veuskens, J. et al. DNA methylation of sex chromosomes in a dioecious plant, Melandrium album . Molec. Gen. Genet. 239, 219–224 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00281621

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00281621

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