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Review
. 2020 Aug 17;71(17):5223-5236.
doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraa188.

Epigenetics: possible applications in climate-smart crop breeding

Serena Varotto  1 , Eleni Tani  2 , Eleni Abraham  3 , Tamar Krugman  4 , Aliki Kapazoglou  5 , Rainer Melzer  6 , Aleksandra Radanović  7 , Dragana Miladinović  7
Affiliations
Review

Epigenetics: possible applications in climate-smart crop breeding

Serena Varotto et al. J Exp Bot. .

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.

Keywords: Abiotic stress; DNA methylation; breeding; chromatin; climate-smart; crops; epigenetic changes; small RNA.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Epigenetic variations that could be used in plant breeding.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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