Search for paternally expressed imprinted genes regulating endosperm development

Research Project

Project/Area Number	16K14903
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Applied biochemistry
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	TAKAYAMA Seiji 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 教授 (70273836)
Research Collaborator	WADA Yuko 奈良先端科学技術大学院大学, バイオサイエンス研究科, 助教 (50379541) TSUCHIMATSU Takashi 千葉大学, 大学院理学研究院, 准教授 (60740107) KINOSHITA Tetsu 横浜市立大学, 木原生物学研究所, 教授 (60342630) ITO Toshiro 奈良先端科学技術大学院大学, バイオサイエンス研究科, 教授 (90517096)
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Keywords	植物 / 遺伝子 / 発生 / 生殖 / ゲノムインプリンティング / 胚乳
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This project aims to identify paternally expressed imprinted genes that regulate endosperm development. We searched for these genes through the following strategies. 1. Search based on the conflict between maternal and paternal genomes: When Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 strain was crossed with other natural A. thaliana strains, the obtained F1 seeds exhibited high phenotypic variation in size. A genome-wide association study of seed size identified some associated loci, in which some paternally expressed genes were located. 2. Search based on the gene expression dependent on DNA methylation: The expression of target genes is suggested to be dependent on DNA methylation. The comparative pollen transcriptome analysis of wild type and a DNA methylation mutant identified several candidates genes. Furthermore, the analysis of F1 hybrids between wild type and epiRIL liens identified some loci that affect seed size dependent on DNA methylation.