Azacitidine (5-AzaC)-treatment and mutations in DNA methylase genes affect embryogenic response and expression of the genes that are involved in somatic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis

Epigenetic processes including DNA methylation play a pivotal role in regulating the genes that control plant development. In contrast to in planta development, the contribution of DNA methylation to the morphogenic processes that are induced in vitro are much less recognised. Hence, in the present study, we analysed the impact of DNA methylation on somatic embryogenesis (SE) that was induced in Arabidopsis. The results demonstrated a decrease in the global DNA methylation level during SE that contrasted with the up-regulation of MET1 and CMT3 DNA methylases and the down-regulation of DNA demethylases (ROS1, DME and DML2). Hence, the global DNA methylation level appears not to correlate with the transcriptional activity of the genes encoding DNA methylases/demethylases, thereby implying the complexity of the regulatory mechanism that controls the DNA methylation status of the SE-epigenome. Moreover, distinct changes in the expression level of the SE-regulatory genes were indicated in the 5-AzaC-treated and DNA methylase mutant cultures. Accordingly, a significant repression of the LEC2, LEC1 and BBM genes was found in the 5-AzaC-treated culture that was incapable of SE induction. In contrast, the distinct up-regulation of these genes was observed in the drm1drm2 and drm1drm2cmt3 mutant cultures with an improved embryogenic response. The modulated expression of DNA methylase genes and the significantly modified embryogenic response of the met1 and drm mutants imply that both the maintenance and the de novo pathway of DNA methylation are engaged in the regulation of SE in Arabidopsis.