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Epigenomics

Epigenetic variation across the generations

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 12, page 740 (2011)Cite this article

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A handful of local, inherited DNA methylation variants that affect the transcription of nearby genes have been described in plants before. However, the rate of emergence of these epialleles, and their stability, is unclear. To address these issues, the two groups turned to mutation accumulation lines in A. thaliana that had been grown for 30 generations in a common environment. Single-base-pair resolution methylomes were generated for the parental and descendant generations, and comparisons were made both at single-nucleotide positions and at differentially methylated regions (DMRs), which are larger regions of contiguous DNA methylation.

the DNA methylation landscape, although mainly static, does vary across generations

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Becker, C. et al. Spontaneous epigenetic variation in the Arabidopsis thaliana methylome. Nature 20 Sep 2011 (doi: 10.1038/nature10555)

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  2. Schmitz, R. J. et al. Transgenerational epigenetic instability is a source of novel methylation variants. Science 15 Sep 2011 (doi: 10.1126/science.1212959)

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  1. Senior Editor, Nature,

    Magdalena Skipper

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  1. Magdalena Skipper
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Skipper, M. Epigenetic variation across the generations. Nat Rev Genet 12, 740 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3084

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