Abstract
To better adapt transiently or lastingly to stimuli from the surrounding environment, the chromatin states in plant cells vary to allow the cells to fine-tune their transcriptional profiles. Modifications of chromatin states involve a wide range of post-transcriptional histone modifications, histone variants, DNA methylation, and activity of non-coding RNAs, which can epigenetically determine specific transcriptional outputs. Recent advances in the area of ‘-omics’ of major crops have facilitated identification of epigenetic marks and their effect on plant response to environmental stresses. As most epigenetic mechanisms are known from studies in model plants, we summarize in this review recent epigenetic studies that may be important for improvement of crop adaptation and resilience to environmental changes, ultimately leading to the generation of stable climate-smart crops. This has paved the way for exploitation of epigenetic variation in crop breeding.
Highlights
Plant response to abiotic stresses is complex and involves multiple mechanisms, activated and controlled by massive changes in gene expression and nuclear organization (Budak et al, 2015)
As most epigenetic mechanisms are known from studies in model plants, we summarize in this review recent epigenetic studies that may be important for improvement of crop adaptation and resilience to environmental changes, leading to the generation of stable climate-smart crops
Hu et al (2011) observed that treatment of maize with the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor trichostatin A under cold stress conditions strongly inhibits the induction of the maize cold-responsive genes ZmDREB1 and ZmCOR413, while the up-regulation of the ZmICE1 gene in response to cold stress was less affected by cold treatments.These results indicated that HDACs positively regulate the expression of the cold-induced ZmDREB1 gene through histone modification and chromatin conformational changes and that this activation was both gene and site selective
Summary
Received 31 December 2019; Editorial decision 26 March 2020; Accepted 9 April 2020
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