Regulatory roles of epigenetic modifications in plant-phytopathogen interactions

As a sessile organism, plants have evolved a complex and sophisticated immune system to defend against various pathogenic microbes effectively. However, microbes have also developed complicated and delicate strategies to suppress host immunity and successfully colonize the host. Dynamic plant‒pathogen interactions require rapid and fine-tuned regulation of their gene expression. Increasing evidence has revealed that epigenetic regulation plays key roles in plant defense-related transcriptional reprogramming, as well as microbe pathogenicity. In this review, we summarize and highlight the current progress in understanding the roles of epigenetic regulation and factors, including DNA/RNA modification, histone modification, chromatin remodeling and noncoding RNAs, in plant immunity, phytopathogen pathogenicity and their interactions. We also discuss that epigenetic regulation emerges as an efficient strategy for crop breeding and plant disease control.