摘要
Oriental ginseng is an important medicinal plant that grows in 2 major forms or ecotypes,wild and domesticated.Each form differs conspicuously in root phenotype,but can be converted from one type to another by habitat.Here we show that the habi tat-induced transformation of ginseng root phenotype was accompanied by alteration in cytosine methylation at a large number of 5′-CCGG-3′sites detected by the methylation-sensitive polymorphism(MSAP)marker.The collective CG and CHG methylation levels of all 4 landraces of the domesticated form were significantly lower than those of the wild form.Interestingly,artificially transplanted ginseng plants recreated in both directions the methylation levels(at least in CHG)of their natural counterparts.The methylation differences between the 2 ginseng ecotypes were validated at 2 isolated MSAP loci bearing homology to a 5S rRNA gene or a copia retrotransposon.Our results implicate a link between epigenetic variation and habitat-induced phenotypic flexibility in Oriental ginseng.
Oriental ginseng is an important medicinal plant that grows in 2 major forms or ecotypes, wild and domesticated. Each form differs conspicuously in root phenotype, but can be converted from one type to another by habitat. Here we show that the habitat-induced transformation of ginseng root phenotype was accompanied by alteration in cytosine methylation at a large number of 5＇-CCGG-3＇ sites detected by the methylation-sensitive polymorphism （MSAP） marker. The collective CG and CHG methylation levels of all 4 landraces of the domesticated form were significantly lower than those of the wild form. Interestingly, artificially transplanted ginseng plants recreated in both directions the methylation levels （at least in CHG） of their natural counterparts. The methylation differences between the 2 ginseng ecotypes were validated at 2 isolated MSAP loci bearing homology to a 5S rRNA gene or a copia retrotransposon. Our results implicate a link between epigenetic variation and habitat-induced phenotypic flexibility in Oriental ginseng.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30870178)
