Global Methylation Patterns and Their Relationship with Gene Expression and Small RNA in Rice Lines with Different Ploidy

Whole genome duplication (WGD) is a major force in angiosperm evolution. Whether WGD is accompanied by the evolution of epigenetic regulators remains to be explored. Here we investigate whole genome methylation, gene expression, and miRNA regulation among monoploid, diploid, and triploid rice plants isolated from a twin-seedling population. The DNA methylation patterns in the three different ploidy plants were highly similar, with DNA methylation primarily enriched in the promoters. We examined the methylation of single genes and detected around 25,500 methylated genes, of which 22,751 were methylated in all three lines. Significantly divergent DNA methylation patterns between each pair of three lines were only detected in 64 genes, though more genes were found to exhibit differential expression. Analysis of DNA methylation and expression patterns showed that higher DNA methylation levels upstream of the transcription start sites are correlated with higher levels of expression of related genes; whereas higher DNA methylation levels in gene body regions are correlated with lower levels of expression. We also carried out high-throughput sequencing of small RNA libraries and identified 36 new miRNAs. These miRNAs have different expression levels depending on the ploidy.