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Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2021, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (9): 858-879.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.21-170

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Role of epigenetic modifications in the development of crops essential traits

Wang Ya'nan1(), Tao Xu2(), Wanpeng Wang1, Qingzhu Zhang1,3(), Xie Li'nan1,4()   

  1. 1. College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
    2. The Editorial Board of Journal of Forestry Research, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
    3. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
    4. Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
  • Received:2021-05-11 Revised:2021-07-14 Online:2021-09-20 Published:2021-09-03
  • Contact: Zhang Qingzhu,Xie Li'nan E-mail:yn-wang@foxmail.com;tao.xv@nefu.edu.cn;qingzhu.zhang@nefu.edu.cn;linanxie@nefu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No(31871220);National Nonprofit Institute Research Grant of the Chinese Academy of Forestry No(CAFYBB2019ZY003);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Nos(2572020DP01);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Nos(2572017DA06);Heilongjiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China No(LH2021C005);Heilongjiang Provincial Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Undergraduates No(201910225303)

Abstract:

Epigenetic modification refers to the chemical modifications of chromosomal DNA and histones, mainly including DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs. Without altering the DNA sequence, these heritable modifications can affect gene expression profiles by changing the chromatin state and play an important role in regulating the growth and development of plants. When the specific epigenetic modifications are changed, crops can obtain excellent phenotypes and stronger environmental adaptability. Therefore, artificially changing the epigenetic modifications are expected to obtain high-quality germplasm resources more suitable for agricultural production. In this review, we summarize the main types of plant epigenetic modifications, highlight the research progresses of functional plant epigenetic modifications on the important traits and responses to environmental stress, and identify the main problems that need be solved in the application of epigenetics in crop improvement, thereby providing new insights for the functional epigenetic modifications on crop breeding and improvement.

Key words: epigenetic modifications, DNA methylation, histone modification, crop traits