Abstract
Gossypium barbadense is a cultivated cotton not only known for producing superior fiber but also for its salt and alkaline resistance. Here, we used Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS) technology to map the cytosine methylation of the whole genome of the G. barbadense hypocotyl at single base resolution. The methylation sequencing results showed that the mapping rates of the three samples were 75.32, 77.54, and 77.94%, respectively. In addition, the Bisulfite Sequence (BS) conversion rate was 99.78%. Approximately 71.03, 53.87, and 6.26% of the cytosine were methylated at CG, CHG, and CHH sequence contexts, respectively. A comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation and transcriptome data showed that the methylation level of the promoter region was a positive correlation in the CHH context. Saline-alkaline stress was related to the methylation changes of many genes, transcription factors (TFs) and transposable elements (TEs), respectively. We explored the regulatory mechanism of DNA methylation in response to salt and alkaline stress during cotton hypocotyl elongation. Our data shed light into the relationship of methylation regulation at the germination stage of G. barbadense hypocotyl cell elongation and salt-alkali treatment. The results of this research help understand the early growth regulation mechanism of G. barbadense in response to abiotic stress.
Highlights
DNA methylation is an extensively studied epigenetic modification, which plays an important role in regulating gene expression and chromatin conformation
By measuring the cell length, we found that the length of the hypocotyl cells after stress was significantly shorter than that of the control
We learned from the data that the two treatments inhibited the cell elongation of the hypocotyl, but the cell length between the two treatments changed significantly (Figure 1B)
Summary
DNA methylation is an extensively studied epigenetic modification, which plays an important role in regulating gene expression and chromatin conformation. DNA methylation is involved in many activities of a living cell, including cell differentiation, tissue-specific gene expression, genome imprinting, X chromosome inactivation and other activities (Reik et al, 2001; Cedar and Bergman, 2012). There are three types of methylation in plants: CG, CHG, and CHH (where H = A, T or C). More studies have shown that DNA methylation regulates the response mechanism of biotic stress (Dowen et al, 2012) and abiotic stress (Lu et al, 2017; Xu et al, 2018) by affecting the interaction between protein and DNA. DNA methylation plays an important role in plant stress response mechanism
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
