The role of plant epigenetics in biotic interactions

Plants are hubs of a wide range of biotic interactions with mutualist and antagonist animals, microbes and neighboring plants. Because the quality and intensity of those relationships can change over time, a fast and reversible response to stress is required. Here, we review recent studies on the ro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2019-01, Vol.221 (2), p.731-737
Main Authors: Alonso, Conchita, Ramos-Cruz, Daniela, Becker, Claude
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animals
antagonists
biocenosis
Biota
biotic stress
DNA methylation
Epigenesis, Genetic
epigenetic
epigenetics
histones
microorganisms
mutualism
Phenotype
phenotypic plasticity
Plants - genetics
plant–animal interactions
plant–microbe interactions
priming
Review
stress response
Tansley Insight
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Summary:Plants are hubs of a wide range of biotic interactions with mutualist and antagonist animals, microbes and neighboring plants. Because the quality and intensity of those relationships can change over time, a fast and reversible response to stress is required. Here, we review recent studies on the role of epigenetic factors such as DNA methylation and histone modifications in modulating plant biotic interactions, and discuss the state of knowledge regarding their potential role in memory and priming. Moreover, we provide an overview of strategies to investigate the contribution of epigenetics to environmentally induced phenotypic changes in an ecological context, highlighting possible transitions from whole-genome high-resolution analyses in plant model organisms to informative reduced representation analyses in genomically less accessible species.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137
DOI:10.1111/nph.15408