Epigenetic regulation of abiotic stress responses in plants

Environmental factors such as water, temperature, light, and nutrients are essential for plant growth and development. Plants have evolved several adaptive mechanisms to survive and reproduce under stress conditions. An understanding of the mechanisms of establishment of epigenetic codes and their relationship with gene repression under abiotic stresses is important for developing stress-tolerant crop plants. This chapter focuses on epigenetic mechanisms involved in abiotic stress responses of plants. It briefly summarizes the abiotic stress-induced changes in histone modification, histone variants and DNA methylation patterns and their significance in acclimation responses and stress tolerance of plants. Some examples of the histone modification that is critical for stress response of plants are discussed. A section talks about stress-induced changes in DNA methylation and its association with expression of genes critical for stress responses. The chapter concludes with a discussion on transgenerational inheritance and adaptive value of epigenetic modifications.