Dataset Information

Transgenerational epimutations induced by multi-generation drought imposition mediate rice plant's adaptation to drought condition.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic mechanisms are crucial mediators of appropriate plant reactions to adverse environments, but their involvement in long-term adaptation is less clear. Here, we established two rice epimutation accumulation lines by applying drought conditions to 11 successive generations of two rice varieties. We took advantage of recent technical advances to examine the role of DNA methylation variations on rice adaptation to drought stress. We found that multi-generational drought improved the drought adaptability of offspring in upland fields. At single-base resolution, we discovered non-random appearance of drought-induced epimutations. Moreover, we found that a high proportion of drought-induced epimutations maintained their altered DNA methylation status in advanced generations. In addition, genes related to transgenerational epimutations directly participated in stress-responsive pathways. Analysis based on a cluster of drought-responsive genes revealed that their DNA methylation patterns were affected by multi-generational drought. These results suggested that epigenetic mechanisms play important roles in rice adaptations to upland growth conditions. Epigenetic variations have morphological, physiological and ecological consequences and are heritable across generations, suggesting that epigenetics can be considered an important regulatory mechanism in plant long-term adaptation and evolution under adverse environments.

SUBMITTER: Zheng X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5209664 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Transgenerational epimutations induced by multi-generation drought imposition mediate rice plant's adaptation to drought condition.

Zheng Xiaoguo X Chen Liang L Xia Hui H Wei Haibin H Lou Qiaojun Q Li Mingshou M Li Tiemei T Luo Lijun L

Scientific reports 20170104

Epigenetic mechanisms are crucial mediators of appropriate plant reactions to adverse environments, but their involvement in long-term adaptation is less clear. Here, we established two rice epimutation accumulation lines by applying drought conditions to 11 successive generations of two rice varieties. We took advantage of recent technical advances to examine the role of DNA methylation variations on rice adaptation to drought stress. We found that multi-generational drought improved the drough ...[more]

PMID: 28051176

Similar Datasets

Project description:Epigenetic inheritance is the transmission of altered gene expression states across dividing cells without DNA sequence variation. Induced epigenetic changes (epimutations) have been extensively studied, but importantly, epimutations also occur spontaneously in a manner reminiscent of DNA sequence change. Small RNAs are established as a source of spontaneous epimutations which transmit gene expression changes over multiple generations in C.elegans. These changes are generally short lived, but rarely long-lived changes occur. Given that chromatin state is a critical regulator of gene expression, we explored whether chromatin states also undergo spontaneous change and whether this could be a potential alternative mechanism for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. We compared the chromatin profiles and gene expression profiles at matched time points from a twenty generation bottlenecked lineage of C.elegans. We found that heritable changes in gene expression arose at a higher rate than the estimate for DNA sequence variation, indicating that these were true epigenetic events. In addition to recapitulating the known role for small RNAs, we provide evidence for chromatin mediated epimutations as an alternative mechanism driving epigenetic inheritance. Chromatin epimutations were heritable, enriched in the germline and synchronised with inherited gene expression changes. As with small RNA mediated epimutations, they were generally short lived with a tendency to resolve to baseline after 2-3 generations. A subset of chromatin epimutations however were long lasting, and these were uniquely enriched in piRNA clusters. Genes with long lived epimutations were implicated in multiple components of xenobiotic response pathways. This points to a mechanism for epigenetic ‘anticipation’ of environmental stressors. Adaptive traits driven by epimutations may be selected for under adverse conditions and lost on return to normal conditions, enabling soft adaptation in the absence of genetic sequence change.

Dataset Information

Transgenerational epimutations induced by multi-generation drought imposition mediate rice plant's adaptation to drought condition.

Publications

Transgenerational epimutations induced by multi-generation drought imposition mediate rice plant's adaptation to drought condition.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets