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Tyshawn Ferrell 1,2, Damon Lisch 3, Meixia Zhao 1 1Department of Biology, Miami University, 501 E High St, Oxford, OH, 45056 2Department of Biology, Albany State University, 504 College Dr, Albany, GA 31705 3Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907
Meiotic recombination is a fundamental process that generates genetic diversity and ensures the accurate segregation of homologous chromosomes. Meiotic recombination is regulated by both genetic and epigenetic factors. While a great deal is known about genetic factors, relatively little is known about epigenetic factors, such as DNA methylation. In previous studies DNA methylation have been decreased in the presence of mop1. We hypothesize that the removal of DNA methylation can alter the frequency of recombination in the non-canical RNA directed DNA Methylation pathway. To test this hypothesis, we measured the meiotic recombination in a mutant named maize leafbladeless1 (lbl1), which can remove methylation by inhibiting the biogenesis of the small short interfering RNAs. In maize, by comparing the numbers of crossovers in two F2 populations derived from the lbl1 mutant and its wild type control plants using polymorphic genetic markers, we observed no significant changes in the frequency of meiotic recombination in both the euchromatic and heterochromatic regions between the mutant and the wild type plants. We further hypothesize that lbl1 may not alter the frequency of meiotic recombination globally, but only effects at some specific regions of the chromosomes where DNA methylation has been largely reduced. We have been analyzing high-throughput of small RNA and whole genome bisulfite sequencing data in order to determine those regions. Our future plans involve developing new polymorphic markers around chromosomal regions with largely reduced small RNAs and DNA methylation to investigate the frequency of meiotic recombination in the mutant and its wild type control. Our research will provide new insights into the understanding of how DNA methylation influence meiotic recombination.
Presenter: Tyshawn Ferrell
Institution: Albany State University
Type: Poster
Subject: Ecology
Status: Approved
