a 2025

CRISPR engineered chromosomal translocations point to cis regulatory control of arm specific telomere homeostasis and overall robustness of chromatin structure and phenotype in Arabidopsis

HELIA, Ondřej; Barbora MATÚŠOVÁ; Kateřina HAVLOVÁ; Anna HÝSKOVÁ; Martin LYČKA et al.

Basic information

Original name

CRISPR engineered chromosomal translocations point to cis regulatory control of arm specific telomere homeostasis and overall robustness of chromatin structure and phenotype in Arabidopsis

Authors

HELIA, Ondřej; Barbora MATÚŠOVÁ; Kateřina HAVLOVÁ; Anna HÝSKOVÁ; Martin LYČKA; Natalja BEYING; Holger PUCHTA; Jiří FAJKUS and Miloslava FOJTOVÁ

Edition

2025

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Konferenční abstrakta

Country of publisher

Austria

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

Marked to be transferred to RIV

No

Organization

Středoevropský technologický institut – Repository – Repository

Keywords in English

chromosome rearrangements; Arabidopsis thaliana; Telomere dynamics

Links

EH22_008/0004581, research and development project. GA25-15566S, research and development project.
Changed: 20/3/2026 00:50, RNDr. Daniel Jakubík

Abstract

In the original language

Using targeted CRISPR/Cas-based chromosome engineering, stable Arabidopsis thaliana lines with exchanged arms between non-homologous chromosomes were created (Beying et al., 2020, Nature Plants; Schindele et al., 2020, Current Opinion in Biotechnology). Plants with translocated chromosome arms maintained wild-type morphology through multiple generations, as confirmed by the PCA analysis of multiple phenotypic traits (Helia et al., 2025, Plant Journal). Transcriptomic profiling revealed minimal differential gene expression, with affected loci distributed genome-wide rather than clustering near translocation junctions. Chromatin structure was not altered as there were no significant changes in H3K27me3, H3K4me1, or H3K56ac histone marks near breakpoints or genome-wide. Bulk and arm-specific telomere lengths remained stable across multiple plant generations. These results demonstrate: (i) remarkable phenotypic and genomic stability of A. thaliana despite Mb-scale chromosome rearrangements, (ii) telomere length regulation via cis-acting mechanisms rather than the current chromosomal position, (iii) functional independence of chromatin domains from their native chromosomal context. The findings support the utilization of CRISPR/Cas-based chromosome engineering as a useful approach for studying plant genome evolution and developing plants with enhanced traits. The observed cis-regulation of telomere lengths provides insights for better understanding of genome stability during large-scale DNA rearrangements in plants.

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