Environmental and genealogical effects on DNA methylation in a widespread apomictic dandelion lineage.

DNA methylation in plant genomes occurs in different sequences and genomic contexts that have very different properties. DNA methylation that occurs in CG (mCG) sequence context shows transgenerational stability and high epimutation rate, and can thus provide genealogical information at short time scales. However, due to meta-stability and because mCG variants may arise due to other factors than epimutation, such as environmental stress exposure, it is not clear how well mCG captures genealogical information at micro-evolutionary time scales.

Shaping inheritance: how distinct reproductive strategies influence DNA methylation memory in plants.

DNA methylation is a major epigenetic mark involved in the silencing of genes and transposable elements (TEs). DNA methylation varies significantly across the plant life cycle, but is efficiently reinforced during reproduction, ensuring stable silencing of TEs. Plants are remarkably flexible in their mode of reproduction and numerous species, including crops, can propagate asexually, skipping one or more of these critical reinforcement steps.

Hybridization and polyploidization effects on LTR-retrotransposon activation in potato genome.

Hybridization and polyploidization are major forces in plant evolution and potatoes are not an exception. It is proposed that the proliferation of Long Terminal Repeat-retrotransposons (LTR-RT) is related to genome reorganization caused by hybridization and/or polyploidization. The main purpose of the present work was to evaluate the effect of interspecific hybridization and polyploidization on the activation of LTR-RT.

Response to water deficit of semi-desert wild potato Solanum kurtzianum genotypes collected from different altitudes.

Drought-sensitive crops are threatened as a consequence of limited available water due to climate change. The cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) is susceptible to drought and within its wild relative species, Solanum kurtzianum is the Argentinian wild potato species best adapted to arid conditions. However, its physiological responses to water deficit (WD) are still missing.

Environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity and DNA methylation changes in a wild potato growing in two contrasting Andean experimental gardens.

DNA methylation can be environmentally modulated and plays a role in phenotypic plasticity. To understand the role of environmentally induced epigenetic variation and its dynamics in natural populations and ecosystems, it is relevant to place studies in a real-world context. Our experimental model is the wild potato Solanum kurtzianum, a close relative of the cultivated potato S.