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Review
. 2024 Oct:81:102602.
doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102602. Epub 2024 Jul 17.

Time's up: Epigenetic clocks in plants

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Free article
Review

Time's up: Epigenetic clocks in plants

Binh Thanh Vo et al. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2024 Oct.
Free article

Abstract

For over a decade, the animal field has led the way in using DNA methylation measurements to construct epigenetic clocks of aging. These clocks can predict organismal age with a level of accuracy that surpasses any other molecular proxy known to date. Evidence is finally emerging that epigenetic clocks also exist in plants. However, these clocks appear to differ from those in animals in some key aspects, including in their ability to measure time beyond the life span of an individual. Clock-like epigenetic changes can be found in plant circadian rhythms (scale: 24 h), during plant aging (scale: weeks/centuries), and across plant lineage evolution (scale: decades/millennia). Here, we provide a first classification of these different types of epigenetic clocks, highlight their main features, and discuss their biological basis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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