Epigenetic Regulation of Heat Stress in Plant Male Reproduction.

Shikha Malik,Dazhong Zhao

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.826473

Abstract

In flowering plants, male reproductive development is highly susceptible to heat stress. In this mini-review, we summarized different anomalies in tapetum, microspores, and pollen grains during anther development under heat stress. We then discussed how epigenetic control, particularly DNA methylation, is employed to cope with heat stress in male reproduction. Further understanding of epigenetic mechanisms by which plants manage heat stress during male reproduction will provide new genetic engineering and molecular breeding tools for generating heat-resistant crops.

Highlights

Short- and long-term heat stress have detrimental effects on overall growth and development in plants (Kotak et al, 2007); reproductive organs, the male reproductive organ, are more susceptible to elevated temperatures comparing with vegetative organs (Abiko et al, 2005; Sakata et al, 2010; Sato et al, 2014, 2019; Fragkostefanakis et al, 2016; Begcy et al, 2019; He et al, 2019)
A recent study in Arabidopsis showed that 131 pollen-specific intergenic expressed loci (XLOC), which mostly encode Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), are heat stress responsive (Rutley et al, 2021). These results suggest that lncRNAs might play an important role in heat stress response during male reproduction via epigenetic regulation
Male reproductive development is highly susceptible to episodes of heat stress

Summary

Introduction

Short- and long-term heat stress have detrimental effects on overall growth and development in plants (Kotak et al, 2007); reproductive organs, the male reproductive organ, are more susceptible to elevated temperatures comparing with vegetative organs (Abiko et al, 2005; Sakata et al, 2010; Sato et al, 2014, 2019; Fragkostefanakis et al, 2016; Begcy et al, 2019; He et al, 2019). Heat stress impairs anther wall cell differentiation, microsporogenesis, and pollen formation, resulting in partial or complete male sterility in various plants. Genes involved in DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin modeling, and small RNA biogenesis were studied for their roles in response to heat stress.

Results

Conclusion