Abstract
BackgroundCrassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis is an important carbon fixation pathway especially in arid environments because it leads to higher water-use efficiency compared to C3 and C4 plants. However, the role of DNA methylation in regulation CAM photosynthesis is not fully understood.ResultsHere, we performed temporal DNA methylome and transcriptome analysis of non-photosynthetic (white base) and photosynthetic (green tip) tissues of pineapple leaf. The DNA methylation patterns and levels in these two tissues were generally similar for the CG and CHG cytosine sequence contexts. However, CHH methylation was reduced in white base leaf tissue compared with green tip tissue across diel time course in both gene and transposon regions. We identified thousands of local differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between green tip and white base at different diel periods. We also showed that thousands of genes that overlapped with DMRs were differentially expressed between white base and green tip leaf tissue across diel time course, including several important CAM pathway-related genes, such as beta-CA, PEPC, PPCK, and MDH.ConclusionsTogether, these detailed DNA methylome and transcriptome maps provide insight into DNA methylation changes and enhance our understanding of the relationships between DNA methylation and CAM photosynthesis.
Highlights
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis is an important carbon fixation pathway especially in arid environments because it leads to higher water-use efficiency compared to C3 and C4 plants
Genes involved in the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway were found in pineapple, including AGO4, DCL3, and NRPE5
CAM pathway related genes regulated by DNA methylation Because the Gene ontology (GO) analysis of differentially methylated regions (DMRs)-associated Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) indicated an enrichment of genes with major regulatory roles in photosynthesis, light signaling, carbohydrate metabolic process and transmembrane transport pathways (Fig. 5, Supplemental Figure 6 and Supplemental Figure 7), we focused on genes that are known to play critical roles in the CAM pathway
Summary
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis is an important carbon fixation pathway especially in arid environments because it leads to higher water-use efficiency compared to C3 and C4 plants. Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses affecting the growth and development of plants and crops worldwide [1, 2], resulting in massive production losses. Compared to C3 and C4 plants, Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants have greater water-use efficiency (WUE) and are better adapted to arid and semi-arid regions. Pineapple is a model plant for studying CAM photosynthesis as an adaptation for increased water-use efficiency. In CAM plants, the stomata in the leaves are closed during the day, reducing evapotranspiration, but open at night to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 absorbed is stored in vacuoles in the form of four-carbon acid malate at night. Malate can be transported into chloroplasts and converted into CO2 for
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