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Epigenetic inheritance in plants

Nature volume 447, pages 418–424 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The function of plant genomes depends on chromatin marks such as the methylation of DNA and the post-translational modification of histones. Techniques for studying model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana have enabled researchers to begin to uncover the pathways that establish and maintain chromatin modifications, and genomic studies are allowing the mapping of modifications such as DNA methylation on a genome-wide scale. Small RNAs seem to be important in determining the distribution of chromatin modifications, and RNA might also underlie the complex epigenetic interactions that occur between homologous sequences. Plants use these epigenetic silencing mechanisms extensively to control development and parent-of-origin imprinted gene expression.

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Figure 1: The epigenetic 'landscape' of A. thaliana.
Figure 2: RNA-directed DNA methylation.
Figure 3: Trans-epiallele interactions at b1 and FWA.
Figure 4: PcG-protein-mediated silencing throughout the A. thaliana life cycle.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Chan, C. Fei Li, K. Niakan, M. Ong and all members of the Jacobsen laboratory for useful comments and discussion. We apologize to colleagues whose research we did not have space to discuss. I.R.H. was supported by a long-term fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization, a Special Fellow grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and a grant from the National Institutes of Health. S.E.J is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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  1. Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Ian R. Henderson & Steven E. Jacobsen

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Correspondence should be addressed to S.E.J. (jacobsen@ucla.edu).

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Henderson, I., Jacobsen, S. Epigenetic inheritance in plants. Nature 447, 418–424 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05917

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