RNA-binding protein regulates plant DNA methylation by controlling mRNA processing at the intronic heterochromatin-containing gene IBM1

DNA methylation-dependent heterochromatin formation is a conserved mechanism of epigenetic silencing of transposons and other repeat elements in many higher eukaryotes. Genes adjacent to repetitive elements are often also subjected to this epigenetic silencing. Consequently, plants have evolved antisilencing mechanisms such as active DNA demethylation mediated by the REPRESSOR OF SILENCING 1 (ROS1) family of 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylases to protect these genes from silencing. Some transposons and other repeat elements have found residence in the introns of genes. It is unclear how these intronic repeat elements-containing genes are regulated. We report here the identification of ANTI-SILENCING 1 (ASI1), a bromo-adjacent homology domain and RNA recognition motif-containing protein, from a forward genetic screen for cellular antisilencing factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. ASI1 is required to prevent promoter DNA hypermethylation and transcriptional silencing of some transgenes. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis reveals that ASI1 has a similar role to that of the histone H3K9 demethylase INCREASE IN BONSAI METHYLATION 1 (IBM1) in preventing CHG methylation in the bodies of thousands of genes. We found that ASI1 is an RNA-binding protein and ensures the proper expression of IBM1 full-length transcript by associating with an intronic heterochromatic repeat element of IBM1. Through mRNA sequencing, we identified many genes containing intronic transposon elements that require ASI1 for proper expression. Our results suggest that ASI1 associates with intronic heterochromatin and binds the gene transcripts to promote their 3' distal polyadenylation. The study thus reveals a unique mechanism by which higher eukaryotes deal with the collateral effect of silencing intronic repeat elements.