Plant epigenetics

An Arabidopsis thaliana gene whose ectopic expression and flowering phenotype can be associated with a stably unmethylated promoter state.

A tomato vitamin E biosynthetic gene whose expression can be influenced by methylation of a nearby promoter retrotransposon.

A prior stimulus changes the response to a subsequent challenge. Persistence may involve metabolites, proteins, regulatory feedback or chromatin; priming alone does not establish epigenetic inheritance.

A heat-shock transcription factor involved in sustained transcriptional stress memory in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Persistence of a response state within an individual after the initial stimulus has ended, distinguished from inheritance through reproduction.

Acquisition of competence to flower after prolonged cold; the molecular implementation and persistence vary among plant lineages.

The Arabis alpina FLC orthologue, whose seasonal reactivation contributes to perennial flowering behavior.

An Arabidopsis thaliana floral repressor whose stable silencing contributes to memory of prolonged cold.

Epigenetic silencing of one parental set of ribosomal RNA genes in a hybrid; it is not simply the deletion of those genes.

A plant silencing pathway in which small RNAs guide methylation at homologous chromatin. Canonical RdDM involves Pol IV, RDR2, DCL3, Argonaute and Pol V scaffold transcription.

Targeted alteration of an epigenetic state, distinguished from cutting or rewriting the target DNA sequence. Persistence after removal of the targeting factor is locus dependent.

An association analysis relating epigenomic measurements to a phenotype. Association alone does not establish causal direction or independence from genetic variation.

A line from a mapping population segregating experimentally induced epigenetic differences in a comparatively uniform genetic background. New transposon insertions and residual sequence differences still need to be assessed.

An alternative regulatory state of a locus associated with an epigenetic difference. Its stability and independence from DNA sequence variation must be tested.

A gain or loss of an inherited epigenetic state rather than a change in nucleotide sequence.