Fig. 4.

Activity of an RSM1 regulatory element is affected by DNA methylation. (A) Snapshot of DNA methylation in different sequence contexts at the RSM1 locus in wild-type (WT) Col-0 plants and plants carrying an inverted repeat transgene (RSM1-IR). The black horizontal bar indicates the region targeted by RSM1-IR–induced RdDM for DNA hypermethylation. Green ticks, CG methylation; blue, CHG methylation; orange, CHH methylation. (B) RSM1 expression in leaves and roots of WT plants, RSM1-IR plants, and RSM1-IR plants complemented with synRSM1. White bar, leaf; black bar, root. (C) Induced DNA hypermethylation of RSM1-DMR affects morphology. (D) Genetic complementation of RSM1-IR with a synthetic RSM1 transgene (synRSM1) resistant to RSM1-IR–induced hypermethylation.