Sridevi Sureshkumar, Champa Bandaranayake, Junqing Lv, Craig I Dent, Prakash Kumar Bhagat, Sourav Mukherjee, Rucha Sarwade, Chhaya Atri, Harrison M York, Prashanth Tamizhselvan, Nawar Shamaya, Giulia Folini, Benjamin G Bergey, Avilash Singh Yadav, Subhasree Kumar, Oliver S Grummisch, Prince Saini, Ram K Yadav, Senthil Arumugam, Emanuel Rosonina, Ari Sadanandom, Hongtao Liu, Sureshkumar Balasubramanian
Epigenetic gene silencing induced by expanded repeats can cause diverse phenotypes ranging from severe growth defects in plants to genetic diseases such as Friedreich's ataxia in humans. The molecular mechanisms underlying repeat expansion-induced epigenetic silencing remain largely unknown. Using a plant model with a temperature-sensitive phenotype, we have previously shown that expanded repeats can induce small RNAs, which in turn can lead to epigenetic silencing through the RNA-dependent DNA methylation pathway...
April 19, 2024: Nature Plants