Concerted Flexibility of Chromatin Structure, Methylome, and Histone Modifications along with Plant Stress Responses
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Genomics of Plant Stress Unit. Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Academic Editor: Chris O’Callaghan
Biology 2017, 6(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6010003
Received: 17 November 2016
/
Revised: 5 January 2017
/
Accepted: 10 January 2017
/
Published: 16 January 2017
The spatial organization of chromosome structure within the interphase nucleus, as well as the patterns of methylome and histone modifications, represent intersecting layers that influence genome accessibility and function. This review is focused on the plastic nature of chromatin structure and epigenetic marks in association to stress situations. The use of chemical compounds (epigenetic drugs) or T-DNA-mediated mutagenesis affecting epigenetic regulators (epi-mutants) are discussed as being important tools for studying the impact of deregulated epigenetic backgrounds on gene function and phenotype. The inheritability of epigenetic marks and chromatin configurations along successive generations are interpreted as a way for plants to “communicate” past experiences of stress sensing. A mechanistic understanding of chromatin and epigenetics plasticity in plant response to stress, including tissue- and genotype-specific epigenetic patterns, may help to reveal the epigenetics contributions for genome and phenotype regulation.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
chromatin structure; epigenetics; DNA methylation; histone modifications; epi-drugs; epi-mutations
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Santos, A.P.; Ferreira, L.J.; Oliveira, M.M. Concerted Flexibility of Chromatin Structure, Methylome, and Histone Modifications along with Plant Stress Responses. Biology 2017, 6, 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6010003
AMA Style
Santos AP, Ferreira LJ, Oliveira MM. Concerted Flexibility of Chromatin Structure, Methylome, and Histone Modifications along with Plant Stress Responses. Biology. 2017; 6(1):3. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6010003
Chicago/Turabian StyleSantos, Ana P., Liliana J. Ferreira, and M. M. Oliveira. 2017. "Concerted Flexibility of Chromatin Structure, Methylome, and Histone Modifications along with Plant Stress Responses" Biology 6, no. 1: 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6010003
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
