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Sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] pigments are associated with resistance to leaf diseases and grain deterioration. As a defence response, tan sorghum produces flavones (apigenin and luteolin), whereas wild-type sorghum produces additional 3-deoxyanthocyanidins (apigeninidin and luteolinidin). The dominant leaf colour gene P (Sb06g029550) controls 3-deoxyanthocyanidin production; the loss of its function results in tan leaves. We investigated the polymorphism of the P gene alleles and found that 11 of 327 lines from sorghum core collections had tan phenotype due to the loss of Sb06g029550 function. Six alleles (with insertions 1-4, a deletion and a point mutation) were found in tan sorghum, most of them in African landraces. This distribution suggests that the tan phenotype arose independently in different geographical locations and was selected several times during sorghum domestication. As plants with white seed without tannin often have tan leaves, the polymorphism of the transcription factor genes Y1 (for white seeds) and Tan1 (for seed tannin) was analysed. The grain coloration was affected by these transcription factors as previously reported but the leaf coloration by wounding was not affected by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed inheritance of DNA methylation in reciprocal F1 hybrids (subsp. japonica cv. Nipponbare × subsp. indica cv. Kasalath) of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using restriction landmark genome scanning (RLGS), and detected differing RLGS spots between the parents and reciprocal F1 hybrids. MspI/HpaII restriction sites in the DNA from these different spots were suspected to be heterozygously methylated in the Nipponbare parent. These spots segregated in F1 plants, but did not segregate in selfed progeny of Nipponbare, showing non-Mendelian inheritance of the methylation status. As a result of RT-PCR and sequencing, a specific allele of the gene nearest to the methylated sites was expressed in reciprocal F1 plants, showing evidence of biased allelic expression. These results show the applicability of RLGS for scanning of non-Mendelian inheritance of DNA methylation and biased allelic expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Syrian cardiomyopathic hamster (BIO14.6), that develops both muscular dystrophy and progressive cardiomyopathy, is widely used as an animal model of autosomal recessive cardiomyopathy mimicking human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and five genes have been proposed as strong candidates for the cause of cardiomyopathy. We recently mapped the cardiomyopathy locus of the hamster to the centromeric region of chromosome 9qa2.1-b1 by construction of a genetic linkage map of the Syrian hamster. Thus, we analyzed the loci of the five candidate genes, α tropomyosin, cardiac troponin T, adhalin, calpain 3 and cardiac myosin binding protein-C, by the FISH method, and found that these genes were mapped on the distal portion of chromosome 12qa5 and 4pa2 and the proximal portion of chromosomes 9qb7, 1qc1.1 and 1qb3, respectively. These results provide strong evidence that the five candidate genes previously proposed are not related to the hamster cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Restriction landmark genome scanning (RLGS) method is a high-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis system for analyses of the whole genome DNA which is including methylation status. It has been used for cloning genes of model animals and human genomes, detection of imprinted genes, and genome-wide methylation research in cancer. The conventional RLGS detected both polymorphism and methylated NotI sites between samples. Here, we have developed improved RLGS method with isoschizomer restriction enzymes such as MspI and HpaII to specifically detect methylated sites, using differential sensitivity of the restriction enzymes to methylated sequences. Recently, by using the genome database information, the RLGS spot sites were efficiently identified by this improved method. Then, genome methylation sites of Arabidopsis were mapped, and a unique inheritance was detected in methylated gene in rice. Now, epigenetic research becomes easy with the improved RLGS and it also can be applied for animal genome. Therefore, RLGS method is useful to explore for novel epigenetic phenomenon.