Phytochemical memory affects chance of survival of offspring

Arabidopsis thaliana grows without genetic memory (left ), grow with memory (right). Image source: University of Warwick

　　Researchers from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom have revealed that plants pass "memory" to their offspring and cause growth and developmental defects. Recently, the research was published inelife.

　　In order to survive and thrive, plants have the unique ability to perceive and remember changes in the environment. This is related to the chemical modification of DNA and histones. These modifications change the way DNA is packaged in the nucleus and how genes are expressed—this process is called epigenetic regulation.

　　Usually, this kind of epigenetic information is reset during sexual reproduction to eliminate any inappropriate “memory” , To ensure the normal growth of offspring. Here, researchers found that some plants cannot "forget" inappropriate information and pass it on to future generations, thus affecting their chances of survival.

　　Researchers have discovered two proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana——previously, they only knew the start and time of the flowering of the plant. Responsible for controlling “plant memory” through chemical modification (demethylation) of histones. They found that plants cannot reset these chemical markers during sexual reproduction, thus passing this "memory" to offspring, leading to defects in growth and development.

　　Research shows that some of these defects are related to the activation of selfish DNA elements, which are also called "jumping genes" or transpositions Therefore, it indicates that the elimination of this "memory" is also crucial for maintaining the integrity of the plant genome by silencing transposon.

　　The senior author of the paper, Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, said, “Our research shows that, in order to avoid the inheritance of inappropriate ‘memory’, This leads to growth and development defects related to genome instability, and how important it is to reset chemical markers during sexual reproduction. ”

　　Next, researchers plan to study how to manipulate this "memory" to achieve the purpose of plant reproduction and help future generations to have stronger adaptations Ability to allow them to thrive in a changing environment.

　　Related paper information: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.58533