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Epigenetic signatures of stress adaptation and flowering regulation in response to extended drought and recovery in Zea mays
Author(s) -
Forestan Cristian,
Farinati Silvia,
Zambelli Federico,
Pavesi Giulio,
Rossi Vincenzo,
Varotto Serena
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.13660
Subject(s) - zea mays , epigenetics , adaptation (eye) , biology , drought stress , fight or flight response , agronomy , botany , genetics , gene , neuroscience
During their lifespan, plants respond to a multitude of stressful factors. Dynamic changes in chromatin and concomitant transcriptional variations control stress response and adaptation, with epigenetic memory mechanisms integrating environmental conditions and appropriate developmental programs over the time. Here we analyzed transcriptome and genome‐wide histone modifications of maize plants subjected to a mild and prolonged drought stress just before the flowering transition. Stress was followed by a complete recovery period to evaluate drought memory mechanisms. Three categories of stress‐memory genes were identified: i) “transcriptional memory” genes, with stable transcriptional changes persisting after the recovery; ii) “epigenetic memory candidate” genes in which stress‐induced chromatin changes persist longer than the stimulus, in absence of transcriptional changes; iii) “delayed memory” genes, not immediately affected by the stress, but perceiving and storing stress signal for a delayed response. This last memory mechanism is described for the first time in drought response. In addition, applied drought stress altered floral patterning, possibly by affecting expression and chromatin of flowering regulatory genes. Altogether, we provided a genome‐wide map of the coordination between genes and chromatin marks utilized by plants to adapt to a stressful environment, describing how this serves as a backbone for setting stress memory.

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