Extraordinary transgressive phenotypes of hybrid tomato are influenced by epigenetics and small silencing RNAs
Open Access
- 16 December 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in The EMBO Journal
- Vol. 31 (2), 257-266
- https://doi.org/10.1038/emboj.2011.458
Abstract
Hybrid organisms may fail to develop, be sterile or they may be more vigorous than either of the parents. Examples of hybrid vigour or hybrid necrosis in the F1 are often not inherited stably in subsequent generations if they are associated with overdominance. There can also be transgressive phenotypes that are inherited stably in these later generations, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we have investigated the possibility that stable transgressive phenotypes in the progeny of crosses between cultivated tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum cv. M82) and a wild relative ( Solanum pennellii , accession LA716) are associated with micro or small interfering(si) RNAs. We identified loci from which these small(s)RNAs were more abundant in hybrids than in either parent and we show that accumulation of such transgressive sRNAs correlated with suppression of the corresponding target genes. In one instance this effect was associated with hypermethylation of the corresponding genomic DNA. Our results illustrate a potential role of transgressive sRNAs in plant breeding and in natural evolution with wild plants. There is a [Have you seen?][1] (January 2012) associated with this Article. [1]: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/emboj.2011.473Keywords
This publication has 74 references indexed in Scilit:
- Establishing, maintaining and modifying DNA methylation patterns in plants and animalsNature Reviews Genetics, 2010
- Molecular mechanisms of polyploidy and hybrid vigorTrends in Plant Science, 2010
- Noncoding Transcription by RNA Polymerase Pol IVb/Pol V Mediates Transcriptional Silencing of Overlapping and Adjacent GenesCell, 2008
- Analyzing real-time PCR data by the comparative CT methodNature Protocols, 2008
- Sorting of Small RNAs into Arabidopsis Argonaute Complexes Is Directed by the 5′ Terminal NucleotideCell, 2008
- A genomic view of introgression and hybrid speciationCurrent Opinion in Genetics & Development, 2007
- Bioinformatic prediction and experimental validation of a microRNA-directed tandem trans-acting siRNA cascade in ArabidopsisProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Overdominant quantitative trait loci for yield and fitness in tomatoProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006
- The Tomato Sequencing Project, the first cornerstone of the International Solanaceae Project (SOL)Comparative and Functional Genomics, 2005
- RNA silencing in plantsNature, 2004