Epigenetics and Epigenomics of Plants

Chandra Yadav, Garima Pandey, Mehanathan Muthamilarasan, Manoj Prasad

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The genetic material DNA in association with histone proteins forms the complex structure called chromatin, which is prone to undergo modification through certain epigenetic mechanisms including cytosine DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small RNA-mediated methylation. Alterations in chromatin structure lead to inaccessibility of genomic DNA to various regulatory proteins such as transcription factors, which eventually modulates gene expression. Advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies have provided the opportunity to study the epigenetic mechanisms at genome-wide levels. Epigenomic studies using high-throughput technologies will widen the understanding of mechanisms as well as functions of regulatory pathways in plant genomes, which will further help in manipulating these pathways using genetic and biochemical approaches. This technology could be a potential research tool for displaying the systematic associations of genetic and epigenetic variations, especially in terms of cytosine methylation onto the genomic region in a specific cell or tissue. A comprehensive study of plant populations to correlate genotype to epigenotype and to phenotype, and also the study of methyl quantitative trait loci (QTL) or epiGWAS, is possible by using high-throughput sequencing methods, which will further accelerate molecular breeding programs for crop improvement.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPlant Genetics and Molecular Biology
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages237-261
Number of pages25
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Publication series

NameAdvances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology
Volume164
ISSN (Print)0724-6145

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