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Published on: August 25, 2018
Epigenetic orchestration of sugar signaling in plant development and stress adaptation
Ping Zhao1, Yi Liu1, Javeria Abid1
1National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518120, China.
Abstract:
Sugars are not only metabolites but also signals that gate plant growth, fruit ripening, and stress responses. Carbon-sensing pathways (HEXOKINASE 1, TOR-SnRK1, and the sucrose Trehalose-6-phosphate pathway) reprogram gene expression by engaging DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling, regulatory RNAs, and RNA modifications. Cutting-edge quantitative epigenomic and epitranscriptomic methods, integrated with novel bioinformatics tools, are driving unprecedented resolution in epigenetic landscape analysis. Benefitting from state-of-the-art technologies, we summarize epigenetic control points for pigmentation, softening, sugar-acid balance, and stress acclimation (e.g. SlDML2, PH5, RdDM-ABA modules). This synthesis underscores that decoding the sugar-epigenome interplay is key to understanding plant phenotypic plasticity and improving crop performance. Finally, we explore how leveraging epigenetic regulation via CRISPR-based epigenome editing, transgenerational inheritance patterns, and epigenomic biomarker-based (epibreeding) approaches holds promise for improving crop resilience and productivity.
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