The Arabidopsis plant is a widely used model organism for studying plant biology and genetics as it was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced. Arabidopsis now represents an even larger breakthrough with the discovery of trans-generation memory of stress. But who ever heard of plants with memories?
It was found that when an Arabidopsis plant was exposed to environmental stress such as exposure to UV-C light or viruses, an alteration in gene activity by epigenetic factors was shown.
This could be seen by increased rates of somatic homologous recombination in non-infected leaves in response to a viral infection. This recombination was between two genes that when recombinated, produce an active resistance to the virus. When put under UV-C light, the rate of homologous recombination increased.
When one or more plants exposed to stress were cross bred, the epigenetic effects were also passed to the offspring in high frequencies, and the offspring showed also showed elevated rates of homologous recombination in the somatic cells. This persisted over four generations, suggesting the mode of inheritance was not traditional mendelian inheritance, but epigenetic.
These findings are further evidence of the phenomenon of epigenetic inheritance. Through future research, the way in which we think about genetic inheritance may be changed and better understood for the use of medicine and molecular sciences alike.
It was found that when an Arabidopsis plant was exposed to environmental stress such as exposure to UV-C light or viruses, an alteration in gene activity by epigenetic factors was shown.
This could be seen by increased rates of somatic homologous recombination in non-infected leaves in response to a viral infection. This recombination was between two genes that when recombinated, produce an active resistance to the virus. When put under UV-C light, the rate of homologous recombination increased.
When one or more plants exposed to stress were cross bred, the epigenetic effects were also passed to the offspring in high frequencies, and the offspring showed also showed elevated rates of homologous recombination in the somatic cells. This persisted over four generations, suggesting the mode of inheritance was not traditional mendelian inheritance, but epigenetic.
These findings are further evidence of the phenomenon of epigenetic inheritance. Through future research, the way in which we think about genetic inheritance may be changed and better understood for the use of medicine and molecular sciences alike.
Written by: 41302707
Primary source:
Bond, D.M. and Finnegan, E.J. 2007. Passing the message on: inheritance of epigenetic traits. Trends in Plant Science vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 211-216.
Secondary source:
Rakyan, VK, Beck, S. 2006. Epigenetic variation and inheritance in mammals. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development, Vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 573-577.
