表观遗传修饰介导的植物胁迫记忆

植物因其固着生长的方式, 已经进化出各类特殊的机制来适应多变的外界环境。为提高自身的存活率, 植物进化出一类胁迫记忆机制, 以适应环境和保护自己。表观遗传修饰不仅能调控植物的正常生长发育, 而且参与植物对各种非生物或生物胁迫的响应。近年的研究表明, 表观遗传修饰在植物胁迫记忆调控中也发挥重要作用。例如, DNA甲基化、组蛋白甲基化及乙酰化等表观遗传修饰参与并维持特定的胁迫记忆。该文主要对表观遗传修饰介导的植物胁迫记忆最新进展进行综述, 并展望未来的重点和热点研究方向。

Stress Memory Mediated by Epigenetic Modification in Plants

Because of the fixed growth habits lacking of mobility, plants have innovated unique strategies to cope with variable environmental conditions. For their survival, plants have evolved mechanisms of stress memories to adapt to the adverse environments and thus protect themselves. Epigenetic modifications not only regulate the growth and development of plants, but also participate in responses to various abiotic and/or biotic stresses. Recent studies have shown that epigenetic modifications play important roles in the control of plant stress memory. In particular, DNA methylation, histone methylation, histone acetylation modification, and other modifications are involved in the formation and the maintenance of specific stress memories. This review highlights the recent advances of plant stress memories mediated by epigenetic modifications, and some key challenges in this field were discussed.