Transgenerational, Dynamic Methylation of Stomata Genes in Response to Low Relative Humidity

Author: Tricker Penny J.   Rodríguez López Carlos M.   Gibbings George   Hadley Paul   Wilkinson Mike J.  

Publisher: MDPI

E-ISSN: 1422-0067|14|4|6674-6689

ISSN: 1422-0067

Source: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.14, Iss.4, 2013-03, pp. : 6674-6689

Access to resources Favorite

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Transgenerational inheritance of abiotic stress-induced epigenetic modifications in plants has potential adaptive significance and might condition the offspring to improve the response to the same stress, but this is at least partly dependent on the potency, penetrance and persistence of the transmitted epigenetic marks. We examined transgenerational inheritance of low Relative Humidity-induced DNA methylation for two gene loci in the stomatal developmental pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana and the abundance of associated short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Heritability of low humidity-induced methylation was more predictable and penetrative at one locus (SPEECHLESS, entropy ≤ 0.02; χ2 < 0.001) than the other (FAMA, entropy ≤ 0.17; χ2 ns). Methylation at SPEECHLESS correlated positively with the continued presence of local siRNAs (r2 = 0.87; p = 0.013) which, however, could be disrupted globally in the progeny under repeated stress. Transgenerational methylation and a parental low humidity-induced stomatal phenotype were heritable, but this was reversed in the progeny under repeated treatment in a previously unsuspected manner.

Related content