Gene expression driven by developmental and stress cues
often depends on nucleosome histone post-translational
modifications and sometimes on DNA methylation. A number of
studies have shown that these DNA and histone modifications
play a key role in gene expression and plant development under
stress. Most of these stress-induced modifications are reset to
the basal level once the stress is relieved, while some of the
modifications may be stable, that is, may be carried forward as
‘stress memory’ and may be inherited across mitotic or even
meiotic cell divisions. Epigenetic stress memory may help
plants more effectively cope with subsequent stresses.
Comparative studies on stress-responsive epigenomes and
transcriptomes will enhance our understanding of stress
adaptation of plants.