1,000 new clones per year: Uncovering the genetic and epigenetic impact of a transposon burst in grapevine

Abstract

Endogenous transposable elements (TEs) can be stimulated, through a combination of tissue culture and stress treatments, to produce novel genetic diversity in plants. Using this approach, we are generating a population of novel grapevine somaclonal mutants as a resource for both the international scientific community (gene function studies) and the wine industry. This talk will discuss molecular and bioinformatic tools that we have developed to enable semi-automated, high throughput genotyping of approximately 60,000 genomic TE insertion sites in each vine, so that a searchable database of genetic variation is established alongside the population. It will also describe the genome-wide epigenetic impact of a loss of TE silencing and the consequent TE mutagenesis, a fundamental process in eukaryotic evolution.