Climate-related naturally occurring epimutation and their roles in plant adaptation in A. thaliana.

DNA methylation has been proposed to be an important mechanism that allows plants to respond to their environments sometimes entirely uncoupled from genetic variation. To understand the genetic basis, biological functions and climatic relationships of DNA methylation at a population scale in Arabidopsis thaliana, we performed a genome-wide association analysis with high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and found that ~56% on average, especially in the CHH sequence context (71%), of the differentially methylated regions (DMRs) are not tagged by SNPs. Among them, a total of 3235 DMRs are significantly associated with gene expressions and potentially heritable.

Climate-responsive DNA methylation is involved in the biosynthesis of lignin in birch.

Lignin is one of the most important secondary metabolites and essential to the formation of cell walls. Changes in lignin biosynthesis have been reported to be associated with environmental variations and can influence plant fitness and their adaptation to abiotic stresses. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor MtMIF3 prevents the premature aging of Medicago truncatula nodules.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in immune response in animals. However, the role of MIFs in plants such as Medicago truncatula, particularly in symbiotic nitrogen fixation, remains unclear. An investigation of M.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Gene Family in Soybean.

Soybean is one of the most important legumes, providing high-quality protein for humans. The gene has previously been demonstrated to be a critical gene that regulates lignin production in plant cell walls and plays an important function in plant growth and development. However, the gene family has not been studied in soybeans.