title: Comparison of the heat stress induced variations in DNA methylation between heat-tolerant and heat-sensitive rapeseed seedlings.
abstract: DNA methylation is responsive to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Heat stress is a serious threat to crop growth and development worldwide. Heat stress results in an array of morphological, physiological and biochemical changes in plants. The relationship between DNA methylation and heat stress in crops is relatively unknown. We investigated the differences in methylation levels and changes in the cytosine methylation patterns in seedlings of two rapeseed genotypes (heat-sensitive and heat-tolerant) under heat stress. Our results revealed that the methylation levels were different between a heat-tolerant genotype and a heat-sensitive one under control conditions. Under heat treatment, methylation increased more in the heat-sensitive genotype than in the heat-tolerant genotype. More DNA demethylation events occurred in the heat-tolerant genotype, while more DNA methylation occurred in the heat-sensitive genotype. A large and diverse set of genes were affected by heat stress via cytosine methylation changes, suggesting that these genes likely play important roles in the response and adaption to heat stress in Brassica napus L. This study indicated that the changes in DNA methylation differed between heat-tolerant and heat-sensitive genotypes of B. napus in response to heat stress, which further illuminates the molecular mechanisms of the adaption to heat stress in B. napus.
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Guizhen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Guixin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Biyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiangwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan 430062 , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: heat stress; methylation; methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP); rapeseed