Environmental memory: transgenerational regulation of developmental transitions in Arabidopsis

AILÉN AUTHIER; GABRIELA A AUGE

Mendoza

Congreso; XVII CONGRESO LATINOAMERICANO DE GENÉTICA; 2019

Asociación Latinoamericana de Genética

Key developmental processes such as germination and flowering can be influenced by the current environmental conditions of a certain individual, as well as those experienced by previous generations. Understanding the mechanisms by which plants can transfer this environmental memory to their progeny is critical to interpret their adaptive value. Transgenerational regulation of stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana plants is associated with the function of genes involved in noncoding small RNA synthesis, and with DNA methylation frequency changes inherited by the progeny. These suggest that the RNA-directed DNA-methylation pathway (RdDM) would be involved in the control of progeny responses to the maternal environment. In this work we aim to shed light on the role of the RdDM pathway in the transgenerational control of progeny responses (germination).