Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1979 Mar;76(3):1390–1394. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.3.1390

Role of methylation in the modification and restriction of chloroplast DNA in Chlamydomonas.

W G Burton, C T Grabowy, R Sager
PMCID: PMC383257  PMID: 286322

Abstract

The different metabolic paths followed by homologous chloroplast DNAs of maternal and paternal origins in zygotes of Chlamydomonas were examined by prelabeling parental cells, before mating them, with [3H]adenine, [3H]thymidine, and [3H]deoxycytidine. Within 6 hr after mating, maternal chloroplast DNA was extensively methylated to 5-methylcytosine and its bouyant density decreased. Paternal chloroplast DNA was largely degraded. Some radioactivity from deoxycytidine of maternal origin reappeared in thymine, and residual paternal DNA contained radioactivity in a base tentatively identified as uracil. These results confirm and extend our previous findings and support our hypothesis that modification (methylation) and restriction enzymes determine maternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA and that the two parental DNAs have different metabolic fates within the zygote.

Full text

PDF
1390

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams G. M. Chloroplast gene transmission in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: a random choice model. Plasmid. 1978 Sep;1(4):522–535. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(78)90009-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arber W., Linn S. DNA modification and restriction. Annu Rev Biochem. 1969;38:467–500. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.38.070169.002343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burton W. G., Roberts R. J., Myers P. A., Sager R. A site-specific single-strand endonuclease from the eukaryote Chlamydomonas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Jul;74(7):2687–2691. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.2687. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cavalier-Smith T. Electron microscopic evidence for chloroplast fusion in zygotes of Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Nature. 1970 Oct 24;228(5269):333–335. doi: 10.1038/228333a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chiang K. S. Physical conservation of parental cytoplasmic DNA through meiosis in Chlamydomonas reinhardi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1968 May;60(1):194–200. doi: 10.1073/pnas.60.1.194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Comings D. E. Methylation of euchromatic and heterochromatic DNA. Exp Cell Res. 1972 Oct;74(2):383–390. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(72)90391-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Holliday R., Pugh J. E. DNA modification mechanisms and gene activity during development. Science. 1975 Jan 24;187(4173):226–232. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kirk J. T. Effect of methylation of cytosine residues on the buoyant density of DNA in caesium chloride solution. J Mol Biol. 1967 Aug 28;28(1):171–172. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(67)80087-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lindahl T., Ljungquist S., Siegert W., Nyberg B., Sperens B. DNA N-glycosidases: properties of uracil-DNA glycosidase from Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 1977 May 25;252(10):3286–3294. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Riggs A. D. X inactivation, differentiation, and DNA methylation. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1975;14(1):9–25. doi: 10.1159/000130315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sager R. Genetic analysis of chloroplast DNA in Chlamydomonas. Adv Genet. 1977;19:287–340. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2660(08)60247-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sager R., Kitchin R. Selective silencing of eukaryotic DNA. Science. 1975 Aug 8;189(4201):426–433. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sager R., Lane D. Molecular basis of maternal inheritance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Sep;69(9):2410–2413. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2410. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sager R., Ramanis Z. Biparental inheritance of nonchromosomal genes induced by ultraviolet irradiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Sep;58(3):931–937. doi: 10.1073/pnas.58.3.931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sager R., Ramanis Z. Chloroplast genetics of chlamydomonas. I. Allelic segregation ratios. Genetics. 1976 Jun;83(2):303–321. doi: 10.1093/genetics/83.2.303. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sager R., Ramanis Z. Mutations that alter the transmission of chloroplast genes in Chlamydomonas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Dec;71(12):4698–4702. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.12.4698. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Siersma P. W., Chiang K. S. Conservation and degradation of cytoplasmic and chloroplast ribosomes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. J Mol Biol. 1971 May 28;58(1):167–185. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(71)90239-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Singhal R. P. Ion-exlusion chromatography: analysis and isolation of nucleic acid components, and influence of separation parameters. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1972 Oct;152(2):800–810. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(72)90276-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Swinton D. C., Hanawalt P. C. In vivo specific labeling of Chlamydomonas chloroplast DNA. J Cell Biol. 1972 Sep;54(3):592–597. doi: 10.1083/jcb.54.3.592. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Westergaard O., Pearlman R. E. DNA polymerase activity in methotrexate plus uridine treated Tetrahymena. Exp Cell Res. 1969 Mar;54(3):309–313. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(69)90207-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wurtz E. A., Boynton J. E., Gillham N. W. Perturbation of chloroplast DNA amounts and chloroplast gene transmission in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by 5-fluorodeoxyuridine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct;74(10):4552–4556. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4552. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES