Poster abstracts
Poster number 22 submitted by Caleb Gooden
Characterizing LTR retrotransposon activities in Z. mays using multi-omics
Caleb Gooden (The Ohio State University, Department of Molecular Genetics)
Abstract:
Transposable elements (TEs) are repetitive genomic elements found in most eukaryotes capable of moving throughout an organism’s genome. Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are a type of Class 1 TE which use a “copy-and-paste” method of transposition by an RNA intermediate, which comprise a significant portion of plant genomes - up to 80% in Zea mays. Previous reports suggest that LTR retrotransposons are involved in various forms of genetic regulation under normal and stress conditions including enhancer and promoter activity. While it is known that LTR retrotransposons can recruit RNA Pol-II to their LTR regions for transcription initiation, the precise location of the promoter region and mechanism of choice between the identical 5′ and 3′ repeats remain uncharacterized. Here, we demonstrate a multi-omics approach for scoring LTRs in Z. mays based on data associated with transcriptional activity to inform identification of promoter-like sequences in LTR retrotransposons. These integrated data include histone modifications H3K4me3 and H3K27ac, unmethylated and low-methylated regions of DNA, RNA sequencing, and transcriptional start sites identified by Smar2C2 sequencing. Additionally, we begin elucidating key differences in global methylation patterns due to cold stress with a specific focus on LTR retrotransposons.
Keywords: Transposable elements, Promoters, Regulation