Presenter: Katie D'Amico, TPS Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University
Title: Profiling genome-wide DNA methylation in identical twin almonds to explore aging and non-infectious bud-failure
Abstract: Most are familiar with aging and the impacts, primarily negative, this process has on our bodies. In addition to greying hair and wrinkling skin, aging comes with the development of age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Much of the aging process and appearance of these types of disorders are well-studied in humans and other mammals; however, the process of aging in plants is poorly understood. Perennial plants, or those that have multiple reproductive cycles throughout their lifetimes, are of particular interest in the study of plant aging due to their long lifespans and use in agricultural production (ex. fruit trees, nut trees, grapevines). How perennial plants age and what impact the aging process has on fruit or nut production is a central question in my research. To address this question, I am working with almond, an economically important nut crop, that exhibits anage-related disorder known as non-infectious bud failure (BF). This disorder impacts the tree’s ability to produce new growth and ultimately reduces yield and profit. My research is focused on genetic changes, known as epigenetic alterations, associated with development of BF in almond. In this particular study, my focus is on DNA methylation. To study these alterations, I utilize next-generation sequencing techniques to generate whole-genome methylationprofiles of almond trees. The almond trees I will use in this study vary in their BF symptoms (distinct levels of exhibition or evidently absent). By comparing the methylation profiles between BF and BF-free trees, I generated lists of regions that contain different levels of epigenetic alterations. Working with various statistical methods, I determined whether any of these differences are associated with BF, and then located genes that might be affected by the alterations and related to BF symptom development. Using these data, my aim isto identify signatures related to the onsetof BF that will benefit almond breeders and growers in screening almond trees for BF potential.This information will be valuable to the almond industry and help to protect future almond production for this potentially devastating disorder. Results from this study will also help to further our general understanding of aging in perennial plants, a field that is currently neglected.
