DOCSLIB.ORG

Priming and Memory of Stress Responses in Organisms Lacking a Nervous System

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Priming and Memory of Stress Responses in Organisms Lacking a Nervous System See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281171559 Priming and memory of stress responses in organisms lacking a nervous system Article in Biological Reviews · August 2015 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12215 · Source: PubMed CITATIONS READS 13 614 19 authors, including: Jens Rolff Anke Steppuhn Freie Universität Berlin Freie Universität Berlin 84 PUBLICATIONS 2,635 CITATIONS 42 PUBLICATIONS 1,004 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Joost T van Dongen Sarah J Whitcomb RWTH Aachen University Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physi… 86 PUBLICATIONS 3,782 CITATIONS 3 PUBLICATIONS 118 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: NUMEX - the Ecuadorian NUtrient Manipulation EXperiment View project Micro- and nanoplastics, glyphosate and impacts on soil biodiversity: Identifying effects from enzymes to microbiomes in multi-stressed systems View project All content following this page was uploaded by Jens Rolff on 26 August 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. Biol. Rev. (2015), pp. 000–000. 1 doi: 10.1111/brv.12215 Priming and memory of stress responses in organisms lacking a nervous system Monika Hilker1,2∗, Jens Schwachtje3, Margarete Baier4, Salma Balazadeh5, Isabel Baurle¨ 5, Sven Geiselhardt1,DirkK.Hincha6, Reinhard Kunze7, Bernd Mueller-Roeber5, Matthias C. Rillig2,8, Jens Rolff9, Tina Romeis10, Thomas Schm¨ulling11, Anke Steppuhn12, Joost van Dongen13, Sarah J. Whitcomb3, Susanne Wurst14, Ellen Zuther6 and Joachim Kopka3 1Applied Zoology/Animal Ecology, Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences (DCPS), Institute of Biology, Freie Universit¨at (FU) Berlin, Haderslebener Straße 9, 12163 Berlin, Germany 2Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Altensteinstr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany 3Applied Metabolome Analysis, Department of Molecular Physiology, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am M¨uhlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany 4Plant Physiology, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, K¨onigin-Luise-Straße 12-16, 14195 Berlin, Germany 5Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Universit¨at Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, Haus 20, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany 6Central Infrastructure Group Transcript Profiling, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am M¨uhlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany 7Applied Genetics/Molecular Plant Genetics, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany 8Plant Ecology, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, Altensteinstraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany 9Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, K¨onigin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany 10Plant Biochemistry, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, K¨onigin-Luise-Straße 12-16, 14195 Berlin, Germany 11Applied Genetics, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany 12Molecular Ecology, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, Haderslebener Straße 9, 12163 Berlin, Germany 13Rhizosphere Molecular Ecology, Institute of Biology, RWTH Aachen, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany 14Functional Ecology, DCPS, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin, K¨onigin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany ABSTRACT Experience and memory of environmental stimuli that indicate future stress can prepare (prime) organismic stress responses even in species lacking a nervous system. The process through which such organisms prepare their phenotype for an improved response to future stress has been termed ‘priming’. However, other terms are also used for this phenomenon, especially when considering priming in different types of organisms and when referring to different stressors. Here we propose a conceptual framework for priming of stress responses in bacteria, fungi and plants which allows comparison of priming with other terms, e.g. adaptation, acclimation, induction, acquired resistance and cross protection. We address spatial and temporal aspects of priming and highlight current knowledge about the mechanisms necessary for information storage which range from epigenetic marks to the accumulation of (dormant) signalling molecules. Furthermore, we outline possible patterns of primed stress responses. Finally, we link the ability of organisms to become primed for stress responses (their ‘primability’) with evolutionary ecology aspects and discuss which properties of an organism and its environment may favour the evolution of priming of stress responses. Key words: priming, stress signalling, epigenetics, memory, fitness, stress tolerance, defence, bet hedging. CONTENTS I. Introduction ................................................................................................ 2 II. A general concept of priming of stress responses in organisms without a nervous system ................... 3 * Address for correspondence (Tel: +49 (0)30 838 55913; E-mail: [email protected]). Biological Reviews (2015) 000–000 © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society 2 Monika Hilker and others III. Spatial aspects of priming: spreading the information ...................................................... 4 IV. Temporal aspects of priming: memory of the primed state ................................................. 4 V. Molecular mechanisms of priming and memory ........................................................... 6 VI. Patterns of primed stress responses ......................................................................... 8 VII. Priming and other terms: adaptation, acclimation, induction, acquired resistance and cross protection .... 9 (1) Priming and adaptation ................................................................................ 9 (2) Priming and acclimation ............................................................................... 9 (3) Priming and induction ................................................................................. 9 (4) Priming and acquired resistance ....................................................................... 10 (5) Trans-priming and cross protection, cross talk of plant defence signalling and cross stress memory .... 10 VIII. Evolutionary ecology aspects of priming and memory of stress responses .................................. 10 (1) Age of the organism .................................................................................... 11 (2) Nutritional state of the organism and resource availability ............................................. 11 (3) Life strategy of the organism ........................................................................... 11 (4) Reliability and specificity of the priming stimulus and predictability of stress .......................... 12 (5) Community ecology and priming ...................................................................... 12 IX. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 12 X. Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 12 XI. References .................................................................................................. 12 I. INTRODUCTION hardening or cold acclimation are used when referring to improved cold or frost tolerance of plants after pre-exposure Successful and efficient processing of information is essential to cold (e.g. Thomashow, 1999; Guy, 2003; Hannah, Heyer for the survival of organisms. Memory of environmental & Hincha, 2005; Stavang, Hansen & Olsen, 2008; Hincha stimuli may affect the response of an individual to future & Zuther, 2014). However, it is not only the experience environmental conditions. Memory of an event experienced of a mild stress that ‘warns’ a plant of future stress that is in a certain life stage, i.e. the capacity to retain information considered as a priming stimulus which improves a plant’s on this event, is not necessarily permanent, but may be response to impending threats. Colonization of plant roots short-lived or long-lasting. Evidence is growing that not only by beneficial rhizobacteria is also studied in the context of animals, but also organisms lacking a dedicated nervous priming since it may result in so-called induced systemic system, namely bacteria, fungi and plants, can ‘remember’ resistance (ISR) which positively affects the response to phytopathogens infecting the leaves (e.g. Heil & Bostock, a past experience (e.g. Casades´us & D´Ari, 2002; Bruce 2002; Van Loon, 2007; Van der Ent, van Wees & Pieterse, et al., 2007; Galis et al., 2009; Rensing, Koch & Becker, 2009; 2009). Similarly, plants can be primed by association with Thellier & L¨uttge, 2013). Memory of a past event may shape symbiotic fungi (e.g. Pozo et al., 2009). Improved resistance or ‘prime’ the response to future environmental stimuli, against phytopathogens is also achieved by priming plants resulting in phenotypic and stimulus-dependent plasticity with natural or synthetic compounds. For example, treatment of response traits. Such plasticity allows an individual to of plants with salicylic acid, 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid adjust its physiological or developmental phenotype to its (INA), benzo-(1,2,3)-thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl environmental experience (Sultan, 2000; Agrawal, 2001; ester (BTH) or β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) can
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Plant Immune System: Induction, Memory and De-Priming of Defense
    The plant immune system : induction, memory and de-priming of defense responses by endogenous, exogenous and synthetic elicitors Kay Gully To cite this version: Kay Gully. The plant immune system : induction, memory and de-priming of defense responses by endogenous, exogenous and synthetic elicitors. Agricultural sciences. Université d’Angers, 2019. English. NNT : 2019ANGE0001. tel-02419987 HAL Id: tel-02419987 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02419987 Submitted on 19 Dec 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Table of contents 1. Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... iv 2. Summary ......................................................................................................................... viii 2.1. Résumé en français ......................................................................................................... x 3. General Introduction ........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Responses to Abiotic Stresses and Rhizobacterial Biostimulants: Metabolomics and Epigenetics Perspectives
    H OH metabolites OH Review Plant Responses to Abiotic Stresses and Rhizobacterial Biostimulants: Metabolomics and Epigenetics Perspectives Motseoa M. Lephatsi 1 , Vanessa Meyer 2 , Lizelle A. Piater 1 , Ian A. Dubery 1 and Fidele Tugizimana 1,3,* 1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa; [email protected] (M.M.L.); [email protected] (L.A.P.); [email protected] (I.A.D.) 2 School of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa; [email protected] 3 International Research and Development Division, Omnia Group, Ltd., Johannesburg 2021, South Africa * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +27-011-559-7784 Abstract: In response to abiotic stresses, plants mount comprehensive stress-specific responses which mediate signal transduction cascades, transcription of relevant responsive genes and the accumulation of numerous different stress-specific transcripts and metabolites, as well as coordinated stress-specific biochemical and physiological readjustments. These natural mechanisms employed by plants are however not always sufficient to ensure plant survival under abiotic stress conditions. Biostimulants such as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) formulation are emerging as novel strategies for improving crop quality, yield and resilience against adverse environmental conditions. However, to successfully formulate these microbial-based biostimulants and design efficient application programs, the understanding of molecular and physiological mechanisms that govern biostimulant-plant interactions is imperatively required. Systems biology approaches, such as Citation: Lephatsi, M.M.; Meyer, V.; metabolomics, can unravel insights on the complex network of plant-PGPR interactions allowing for Piater, L.A.; Dubery, I.A.; Tugizimana, the identification of molecular targets responsible for improved growth and crop quality.
    [Show full text]
  • Segregation of an MSH1 Rnai Transgene Produces Heritable Non-Genetic Memory in Association with Methylome Reprogramming
    ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16036-8 OPEN Segregation of an MSH1 RNAi transgene produces heritable non-genetic memory in association with methylome reprogramming Xiaodong Yang 1,4, Robersy Sanchez 1,4, Hardik Kundariya 1,2,4, Tom Maher1, Isaac Dopp1, ✉ Rosemary Schwegel1, Kamaldeep Virdi 2, Michael J. Axtell3 & Sally A. Mackenzie 1 fi MSH1 1234567890():,; MSH1 is a plant-speci c protein. RNAi suppression of results in phenotype variability for developmental and stress response pathways. Segregation of the RNAi transgene pro- duces non-genetic msh1 ‘memory’ with multi-generational inheritance. First-generation memory versus non-memory comparison, and six-generation inheritance studies, identifies gene-associated, heritable methylation repatterning. Genome-wide methylome analysis integrated with RNAseq and network-based enrichment studies identifies altered circadian clock networks, and phytohormone and stress response pathways that intersect with circa- dian control. A total of 373 differentially methylated loci comprising these networks are sufficient to discriminate memory from nonmemory full sibs. Methylation inhibitor 5- azacytidine diminishes the differences between memory and wild type for growth, gene expression and methylation patterning. The msh1 reprogramming is dependent on functional HISTONE DEACETYLASE 6 and methyltransferase MET1, and transition to memory requires the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway. This system of phenotypic plasticity may serve as a potent model for defining accelerated plant adaptation during environmental change. 1 Departments of Biology and Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. 2 Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA. 3 Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • THE INTELLIGENT PLANT Scientists Debate a New Way of Understanding Flora
    Michael Pollan: How Smart Are Plants? : The New Yorker Page 1 of 21 A REPORTER AT LARGE THE INTELLIGENT PLANT Scientists debate a new way of understanding flora. by Michael Pollan DECEMBER 23, 2013 •Print •More Share Close ◦ ◦ Reddit ◦ Linked In ◦ Email ◦ ◦ StumbleUpon n 1973, a book claiming that plants were sentient Ibeings that feel emotions, prefer classical music to rock and roll, and can respond to the unspoken thoughts of humans hundreds of miles away landed on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction. “The Secret Life of Plants,” by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, presented a beguiling mashup of legitimate plant science, quack experiments, and mystical nature worship that captured the public imagination at a time when New Age thinking was seeping into the mainstream. The most memorable passages described the experiments of a former C.I.A. polygraph expert named Cleve Backster, who, in Plants have electrical and chemical 1966, on a whim, hooked up a galvanometer to the signalling systems, may possess memory, and exhibit brainy behavior in the absence of leaf of a dracaena, a houseplant that he kept in his brains. Construction by Stephen Doyle. office. To his astonishment, Backster found that simply by imagining the dracaena being set on fire he could make it rouse the needle of the http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/12/23/131223fa_fact_pollan?printable=true&... 09/01/2014 Michael Pollan: How Smart Are Plants? : The New Yorker Page 2 of 21 polygraph machine, registering a surge of electrical activity suggesting that the plant felt stress. “Could the plant have been reading his mind?” the authors ask.
    [Show full text]
  • Are Plants Cognitive?
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Studies in History and Philosophy of Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/shpsa Are plants cognitive? A reply to Adams ∗ Miguel Segundo-Ortina, Paco Calvob, a Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong, Australia b Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), Universidad de Murcia, Spain HIGHLIGHTS • Offers an empirically informed philosophical discussion of plant intelligence. • Discusses crucial aspects of the nervous-like vascular system of plants. • Explores important analogies between plant and animal behavior. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: According to F. Adams [this journal, vol. 68, 2018] cognition cannot be realized in plants or bacteria. In his Adams view, plants and bacteria respond to the here-and-now in a hardwired, inflexible manner, and are therefore Plant cognition incapable of cognitive activity. This article takes issue with the pursuit of plant cognition from the perspective of Adaptive behavior an empirically informed philosophy of plant neurobiology. As we argue, empirical evidence shows, contra Anticipation Adams, that plant behavior is in many ways analogous to animal behavior. This renders plants suitable to be Learning described as cognitive agents in a non-metaphorical way. Sections two to four review the arguments offered by Enactivism Adams in light of scientific evidence on plant adaptive behavior, decision-making, anticipation, as well learning and memory. Section five introduces the ‘phyto-nervous’ system of plants. To conclude, section six resituates the quest for plant cognition into a broader approach in cognitive science, as represented by enactive and ecological schools of thought.
    [Show full text]
  • Dynamics and Function of DNA Methylation in Plants
    REVIEWS Dynamics and function of DNA methylation in plants Huiming Zhang1,2*, Zhaobo Lang1,2 and Jian- Kang Zhu 1,2,3* Abstract | DNA methylation is a conserved epigenetic modification that is important for gene regulation and genome stability. Aberrant patterns of DNA methylation can lead to plant developmental abnormalities. A specific DNA methylation state is an outcome of dynamic regulation by de novo methylation, maintenance of methylation and active demethylation, which are catalysed by various enzymes that are targeted by distinct regulatory pathways. In this Review, we discuss DNA methylation in plants, including methylating and demethylating enzymes and regulatory factors, and the coordination of methylation and demethylation activities by a so- called methylstat mechanism; the functions of DNA methylation in regulating transposon silencing, gene expression and chromosome interactions; the roles of DNA methylation in plant development; and the involvement of DNA methylation in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress conditions. DNA methylation at the 5ʹ position of cytosine contrib- and regulatory factors are generally not lethal. However, utes to the epigenetic regulation of nuclear gene expres- DNA methylation appears to be more crucial for devel- sion and to genome stability1,2. Epigenetic changes, opment and environmental- stress responses in plants including DNA methylation, histone modifications and that have more complex genomes. Recent findings histone variants and some non- coding RNA (ncRNA) have uncovered important
    [Show full text]
  • Epigenetic Memory and Growth Responses of the Clonal Plant Glechoma Longituba to Parental Recurrent UV-B Stress
    CSIRO PUBLISHING Functional Plant Biology, 2021, 48, 827–838 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP20303 Epigenetic memory and growth responses of the clonal plant Glechoma longituba to parental recurrent UV-B stress Xiaoyin Zhang A, Cunxia Li A, Dan Tie A, Jiaxin Quan A, Ming Yue A and Xiao Liu A,B AKey Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China. BCorresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract. The responses of plants to recurrent stress may differ from their responses to a single stress event. In this study, we investigated whether clonal plants can remember past environments. Parental ramets of Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kuprian were exposed to UV-B stress treatments either once or repeatedly (20 and 40 repetitions). Differences in DNA methylation levels and growth parameters among parents, offspring ramets and genets were analysed. Our results showed that UV-B stress reduced the DNA methylation level of parental ramets, and the reduction was enhanced by increasing the number of UV-B treatments. The epigenetic variation exhibited by recurrently stressed parents was maintained for a long time, but that of singly stressed parents was only short-term. Moreover, clonal plants responded to different UV-B stress treatments with different growth strategies. The one-time stress was a eustress that increased genet biomass by increasing offspring leaf allocation and defensive allocation in comparison to the older offspring. In contrast, recurring stress was a distress that reduced genet biomass, increased the biomass of storage stolons, and allocated more defensive substances to the younger ramets.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond the View of Plants As Mere Machines: on Plant Sensation, Perception, and Awareness
    Beyond the View of Plants as Mere Machines: on Plant Sensation, Perception, and Awareness I‟ve always found plant behavior intriguing. Over the last six years of casual reading on it, starting with a college research report on the ill-named “Plant Neurobiology”, I learned more than I had imagined possible about the agency of plants (even after debunking misleading works such as The Secret Life of Plants). I learned that while plants do not possess a central nervous system, they nevertheless possess remarkable abilities of sensation, perception, and awareness. While these facets of life of course differ between plants and animals, plants nevertheless possess capacities for vision, olfaction, tactition, thermoception, and for detecting location, direction, and motion. Plants possess some forms of procedural memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. They signal, communicate, and network with other organisms and species. They even wield a vascular system of awareness which some contrast to a central nervous system. All of these points serve to debunk the notion of plants as pure automata, as mere machines. But what, precisely, does that mean? Can a Plant “See”? Vision Without Eyes Plants can sense the ultraviolet spectrum, distinguish time of day based on sun, distinguish large and small light sources, distinguish parts of the light spectrum via phytochrome receptors, discern incoming light direction and duration as well as shadowing over themselves. Again, the decentralized rather than centralized nervous system: “If in the middle of the night you shine a beam of light on different parts of the plant, you discover that it‟s sufficient to illuminate any single leaf in order to regulate flowering in the entire plant.” [What a Plant Knows, p.20] Humans have rhodopsin detecting for light and shadow, and three photopsins for red, blue, and green, as well as cryptochrome for our internal clock.
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Responses to Heat Stress: Physiology, Transcription, Noncoding Rnas, and Epigenetics
    International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Plant Responses to Heat Stress: Physiology, Transcription, Noncoding RNAs, and Epigenetics Jianguo Zhao 1,2,†, Zhaogeng Lu 1,†, Li Wang 1 and Biao Jin 1,* 1 College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China; [email protected] (J.Z.); [email protected] (Z.L.); [email protected] (L.W.) 2 Guangling College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Global warming has increased the frequency of extreme high temperature events. High temperature is a major abiotic stress that limits the growth and production of plants. Therefore, the plant response to heat stress (HS) has been a focus of research. However, the plant response to HS involves complex physiological traits and molecular or gene networks that are not fully understood. Here, we review recent progress in the physiological (photosynthesis, cell membrane thermostability, oxidative damage, and others), transcriptional, and post-transcriptional (noncoding RNAs) regulation of the plant response to HS. We also summarize advances in understanding of the epigenetic regulation (DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling) and epigenetic memory underlying plant–heat interactions. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of future research in the plant response to HS. Keywords: heat stress; physiological; molecular; non-coding RNA; epigenetics 1. Introduction Plants as sessile organisms cannot move to favorable environments upon encountering Citation: Zhao, J.; Lu, Z.; Wang, L.; abiotic or biotic stresses; consequently, plant growth, development, and productivity are Jin, B. Plant Responses to Heat Stress: markedly affected [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Epigenetic Inheritance and Transgenerational Response to Heat Stress in Arabidopsis Thaliana
    EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE AND TRANSGENERATIONAL RESPONSE TO HEAT STRESS IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA IVIE AYEMERE Master of Science, Newcastle University (UK), 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA Ó Ivie Ayemere, 2019 EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE AND TRANSGENERATIONAL RESPONSE TO HEAT STRESS IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA IVIE AYEMERE Date of Defence: December 17, 2019 Dr. Igor Kovalchuk Professor Ph.D. Thesis Supervisor Dr. Gerlinde Metz Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. Robert Laird Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. Anthony Russell Associate Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee DEDICATION To the loving memory of my father, S.U Ayemere whose words inspired me on this academic path and my forever supportive mother, Francisca O. Ayemere whose sacrifices lifts me up daily. iii ABSTRACT Plants experience abiotic stress and develop mechanisms to tolerate these stresses which preserves their progeny over time. Stress exposure induces physiological responses like accelerated growth rates; increased flowering/bolting time complementary to altered levels of genomic methylation. To understand the effects of epigenetic inheritance in the form of DNA methylation, changes triggered by heat stress in progeny genome, epigenetic variations in the genome of stressed and non-stressed progeny and parent plants over twenty-five generations were compared using whole genome bisulfite sequencing. Our study provides evidence that multigenerational exposure to heat stress resulted in physiological changes and impacted DNA methylation patterns across generations. Identification of SNPs gave insight to the broader genotypic diversity in stressed plants and showed a pattern of inheritance that reflects short-term memory of heat stress across twenty-five generations in Arabidopsis thaliana.
    [Show full text]
  • Circadian Rhythms in Biologically Closed Electrical Circuits of Plants
    Plant Signaling & Behavior 7:2, 282–284; February 2012; G 2012 Landes Bioscience Circadian rhythms in biologically closed electrical circuits of plants Alexander G. Volkov,1,* Astian J. Waite,1 Joseph D. Wooten1 and Vladislav S. Markin2 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA; 2Department of Neurology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX USA he circadian clock regulates a wide first attempt to resolve experimentally the T range of electrophysiological and origin of rhythm in the leaf movements developmental processes in plants. Here, of Mimosa pudica. We also investigated we discuss the direct influence of a the electrical activity of Mimosa pudica in circadian clock on biologically closed the day light, at night and in darkness the electrochemical circuits in vivo. The following day.2 biologically closed electrochemical cir- Isolated pulvinar protoplasts are res- cuits in the leaves of C. miniata (Kaffir ponsive to light signals in vitro.4-6 In the lily), Aloe vera and Mimosa pudica, dark period, the closed inward-directed K+ which regulate their physiology, were channels of extensor cells are opened analyzed using the charge stimulation within 3 min by blue light. Conversely, method. Plants are able to memorize the inward-directed K+ channels of flexor © 2012daytime Landes and nighttime. Even Bioscience. at continu- cells, which are open in the darkness, are ous light or darkness, plants recognize closed by blue light. In the light period, nighttime or daytime and change the however, the situation is more complex. Doinput resistance.not distribute. The circadian clock can Premature darkness alone is sufficient to be maintained endogenously and has close the open channels of extensor pro- electrochemical oscillators, which can toplasts, but both darkness and a preced- activate ion channels in biologically ing pulse of red light are required to closed electrochemical circuits.
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Intelligence: an Alternative Point of View
    Annals of Botany 93: 345±351, 2004 doi:10.1093/aob/mch058, available online at www.aob.oupjournals.org VIEWPOINT Plant Intelligence: an Alternative Point of View RICHARD FIRN* Department of Biology, University of York, PO Box 373, York YO10 5YW, UK Received: 9 September 2003 Returned for revision: 24 October 2003 Accepted: 8 January 2003 The concept of plant intelligence has been advanced by Trewavas as a potentially useful framework to guide those seeking to understand plant growth and development. In this short critique, the validity of this concept is critically assessed. Central to this critique is the proposition that the concept of the individual, to which intelli- gence and behaviour are intimately linked, cannot usefully be applied to plants. It is argued that the adaptive responses of plants are best appreciated if the importance of the autonomy of the individual organs is acknow- ledged. Although Trewavas does acknowledge the autonomy of organs by describing an individual plant as being `a democratic confederation', that terminology implies a complexity to the interaction between organs which would demand a cogitative ability beyond that actually demonstrated in plants. It may be more appropri- ate to consider a plant as operating normally as a simple economic federation of many specialized economies (organs and cells). Occasionally, there can be a dramatic, and sometimes complex, reshaping of the economic balances, with the result that the fate of some or many of the individual cells will change. However, such major changes in growth and development are driven by a few simple events in an individual organ and cells.
    [Show full text]