title: Plant Transgenerational Epigenetics.
abstract: Transgenerational epigenetics is defined in opposition to developmental epigenetics and implies an absence of resetting of epigenetic states between generations. Unlike mammals, plants appear to be particularly prone to this type of inheritance. In this review, we summarize our knowledge about transgenerational epigenetics in plants, which entails heritable changes in DNA methylation. We emphasize the role of transposable elements and other repeat sequences in the creation of epimutable alleles. We also argue that because reprogramming of DNA methylation across generations seems limited in plants, the inheritance of DNA methylation defects results from the failure to reinforce rather than reset this modification during sexual reproduction. We compare genome-wide assessments of heritable DNA methylation variation and its phenotypic impact in natural populations to those made using near-isogenic populations derived from crosses between parents with experimentally induced DNA methylation differences. Finally, we question the role of the environment in inducing transgenerational epigenetic variation and briefly present theoretical models under which epimutability is expected to be selected for.
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quadrana
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), F-75005 Paris, France; email: colot@biologie.ens.fr.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Colot
mesh_terms: D019175:DNA Methylation; D018744:DNA, Plant; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant; D009154:Mutation; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant
keywords: DNA methylation; epiallele; epimutation; inheritance; mutation