Sexual-lineage-specific DNA methylation regulates meiosis in Arabidopsis

We report a distinctive gene-targeted RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) activity in the Arabidopsis thaliana male sexual lineage that regulates gene expression in meiocytes. Loss of sexual-lineage-specific RdDM causes mis-splicing of the MPS1 gene (also known as PRD2), thereby disrupting meiosis. Our results establish a regulatory paradigm in which de novo methylation creates a cell-lineage-specific epigenetic signature that controls gene expression and contributes to cellular function in flowering plants. Overall design: Whole genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA-seq of wild type and RdDM mutant arabidopsis male sex cells and somatic tissues