Epigenetic variation for agronomic improvement: an opportunity for vegetatively propagated crops

Epigenetic mechanisms play an essential role in healthy development. Conversely, precisely regulated epigenetic mechanisms are disrupted in diseases like cancer.

Epigenetic changes alter the physical structure of the DNA without changing the genetic sequence and often regulate whether genes are turned on or off. This regulation ensures that each cell produces only proteins necessary for its function. For example, proteins that promote bone growth are not produced in muscle cells. Epigenetic mechanisms play an essential role in healthy development. Conversely, precisely regulated epigenetic mechanisms are disrupted in diseases like cancer.
X-chromosome...

Since the early days of genetics research, scientists have noted certain heritable phenotypic differences that are not due to differences in the nucleotide sequence of DNA. Current evidence suggests that these “epigenetic” phenomena might be controlled by a number of mechanisms, including the modification of DNA cytosine bases with methyl groups, the addition of various chemical groups to histone proteins, and the recruitment of protein factors to specific DNA sites via interactions...

Apart from the measures of central tendency, distribution, outliers, and the changing characteristics of data with time, an important characteristic of any data set is its variation or spread. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in others, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean.
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
Range: The range is the difference between its maximum and...

We present a fast and reliable method to quantify vitamin C in Lactuca spp. using UPLC-UV, potentially transferable to other plants. The key steps are the sample preparation and vitamin C extraction under stable conditions, the reduction of dehydroascorbic acid to ascorbic acid and the optimization of the chromatographic...

An important characteristic of any set of data is the variation in the data. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in other data sets, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean. The most common measure of variation, or spread, is the standard deviation, which is the square root of variance.
When independent and dependent variables are plotted on a scatter plot, the slope of a line is a value that describes the rate of change between the two...