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  • eRice: a refined epigenomic platform for japonica and indica rice
    Author:Pingxian Zhang, Xiaofeng Gu Click: Jan 04, 21
     
      
    Plant Biotechnolgy Journal
    DOI:10.1111/pbi.13329
    published online:09 January, 2020

    Epigenetic modifications including histone modifications and DNA methylation influence various biological processes in multicellular organisms. DNA 5‐methylcytosine (5mC) is the most widely studied DNA modification mark in eukaryotes and is involved in modulating the activities and functions of developmental signals (Wu and Zhang, 2017). Recent studies have shown that the previously unknown epigenetic mark DNA N6‐methyldeoxyadenosine (6mA) is widely distributed throughout the genomes of model animals such as Drosophila (Zhang et al.2015), and throughout the human genome (Xiao et al.2018). In land plants, the distribution patterns and potential functions of 6mA sites were largely undiscovered until recent papers reported genome‐wide 6mA sites in dicot Arabidopsis and monocot rice (Liang et al.2018; Zhang et al.2018). A previous study revealed the 6mA methylome in the two main rice cultivars japonica Nipponbare (Nip) and indica 93‐11, which have been at single‐nucleotide resolution using single‐molecule real‐time (SMRT) sequencing (Zhang et al.2018). Analysis of the genomic distribution of 6mA and its biological functions in rice genomes showed that 6mA is associated with gene expression, plant development and stress responses. Until now, an epigenomic database especially for rice, particularly for DNA methylation has not been available. Here, we describe the species‐specific epigenomic annotation database, eRice (http://www.elabcaas.cn/rice/index.html), that will facilitate efficient annotation of epigenomic data for both japonica and indica rice. The eRice database integrates DNA methylation data for 6mA and 5mC at single‐base resolution, artificial intelligence (AI)‐based 6mA predictions, histone modifications, genomic, transcriptomic resources in the Nip and 93‐11 reference cultivars. The epigenomic information about the distributions of epigenetic markers, especially 6mA, across rice genomes will enhance our understanding of the epigenetic regulation of complex biological processes in plant development for future breeding by molecular design.

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