title: UV-C-Induced alleviation of transcriptional gene silencing through plant-plant communication: Key roles of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid pathways.
abstract: Plant stress responses at the epigenetic level are expected to allow more permanent changes of gene expression and potentially long-term adaptation. While it has been reported that plants subjected to adverse environments initiate various stress responses in their neighboring plants, little is known regarding epigenetic responses to external stresses mediated by plant-plant communication. In this study, we show that DNA repetitive elements of Arabidopsis thaliana, whose expression is inhibited epigenetically by transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) mechanism, are activated by UV-C irradiation through airborne plant-plant and plant-plant-plant communications, accompanied by DNA demethylation at CHH sites. Moreover, the TGS is alleviated by direct treatments with exogenous methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and methyl salicylate (MeSA). Further, the plant-plant and plant-plant-plant communications are blocked by mutations in the biosynthesis or signaling of jasmonic acid (JA) or salicylic acid (SA), indicating that JA and SA pathways are involved in the interplant communication for epigenetic responses. For the plant-plant-plant communication, stress cues are relayed to the last set of receiver plants by promoting the production of JA and SA signals in relaying plants, which exhibit upregulated expression of genes for JA and SA biosynthesis and enhanced emanation of MeJA and MeSA.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of physics and materials science, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, PR China.
authors.forename: Shaoxin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Fanghua
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Chenguang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuejin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bio-engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1138, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, PR China. Electronic address: bianpo@ipp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Po
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bian
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D024201:Bystander Effect / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000528:radiation effects; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000235:genetics; D054883:Oxylipins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003517:Cyclopentanes; D054883:Oxylipins; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C011006:jasmonic acid; D005966:Glucuronidase; D020156:Salicylic Acid
keywords: Interplant communication; Jasmonic acid; Salicylic acid; Transcriptional gene silencing; UV-C irradiation