Low relative humidity triggers RNA-directedde novoDNA methylation and suppression of genes controlling stomatal development

Environmental cues influence the development of stomata on the leaf epidermis, and allow plants to exert plasticity in leaf stomatal abundance in response to the prevailing growing conditions. It is reported thatArabidopsis thaliana‘Landsbergerecta’ plants grown under low relative humidity have a re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of experimental botany Vol. 63; no. 10; pp. 3799 - 3813
Main Authors Tricker, Penny J., Gibbings, J. George, López, Carlos M. Rodríguez, Hadley, Paul, Wilkinson, Mike J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford University Press 01.01.2012
Subjects
Developmental biology
DNA
Epigenetics
Genes
Genetic loci
Methylation
Plants
Relative humidity
RESEARCH PAPER
RNA
Small interfering RNA
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Summary:Environmental cues influence the development of stomata on the leaf epidermis, and allow plants to exert plasticity in leaf stomatal abundance in response to the prevailing growing conditions. It is reported thatArabidopsis thaliana‘Landsbergerecta’ plants grown under low relative humidity have a reduced stomatal index and that two genes in the stomatal development pathway,SPEECHLESSandFAMA, becomede novocytosine methylated and transcriptionally repressed. These environmentally-induced epigenetic responses were abolished in mutants lacking the capacity forde novoDNA methylation, for the maintenance of CG methylation, and in mutants for the production of short-interfering non-coding RNAs (siRNAs) in the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway. Induction of methylation was quantitatively related to the induction of local siRNAs under low relative humidity. Our results indicate the involvement of both transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene suppression at these loci in response to environmental stress. Thus, in a physiologically important pathway, a targeted epigenetic response to a specific environmental stress is reported and several of its molecular, mechanistic components are described, providing a tractable platform for future epigenetics experiments. Our findings suggest epigenetic regulation of stomatal development that allows for anatomical and phenotypic plasticity, and may help to explain at least some of the plant’s resilience to fluctuating relative humidity.
ISSN:0022-0957
1460-2431