Epigenetic Regulation in Plants
- 1Department of Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
- 2Gregor Mendel-Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Correspondence: ortrun.mittelsten_scheid{at}gmi.oeaw.ac.at
Abstract
The study of epigenetics in plants has a long and rich history, from initial descriptions of non-Mendelian gene behaviors to seminal discoveries of chromatin-modifying proteins and RNAs that mediate gene silencing in most eukaryotes, including humans. Genetic screens in the model plant Arabidopsis have been particularly rewarding, identifying more than 130 epigenetic regulators thus far. The diversity of epigenetic pathways in plants is remarkable, presumably contributing to the phenotypic plasticity of plant postembryonic development and the ability to survive and reproduce in unpredictable environments.
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