Overexpression of the Elongator complex subunit 4 in Arabidopsis

The goal of the project is to study the effect of overexpression of the Elongator complex subunit 4 (ELP4) on the epigenome of Arabidopsis. Elongator has been shown to have histone acetyltransferase activity and be involved in DNA demethylation. In this study, the ELP4 gene driven by the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was transformed into the Arabidopsis accession Landsberg erecta (Ler). Epigenomes of the 35S:ELP4 (ELP4OE) transgenic line and the wild-type Ler were analyzed by bisulfite sequencing. Results show that overexpression of ELP4 significantly altered the genome-wide DNA methylation landscape in Arabidopsis.