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AOBPreview published online on October 31, 2005
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcj001
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received March 6, 2005
Revised May 23, 2005
Accepted August 22, 2005

Invited Review

Epigenetics and its Implications for Plant Biology 2. The ‘Epigenetic Epiphany’: Epigenetics, Evolution and Beyond

R. T. GRANT-DOWNTON 1* and H. G. DICKINSON 1

1 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Rodney Porter Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
R. T. GRANT-DOWNTON, E-mail: robert.grant-downton{at}plants.ox.ac.uk


  Abstract

• Scope In the second part of a two-part review, the ubiquity and universality of epigenetic systems is emphasized, and attention is drawn to the key roles they play, ranging from transducing environmental signals to altering gene expression, genomic architecture and defence.

• Key Issues The importance of transience versus heritability in epigenetic marks is examined, as are the potential for stable epigenetic marks to contribute to plant evolution, and the mechanisms generating novel epigenetic variation, such as stress and interspecific hybridization.

• Future Prospects It is suggested that the ramifications of epigenetics in plant biology are immense, yet unappreciated. In contrast to the ease with which the DNA sequence can be studied, studying the complex patterns inherent in epigenetics poses many problems. Greater knowledge of patterns of epigenetic variation may be informative in taxonomy and systematics, as well as population biology and conservation.

Keywords: Epigenetics, ploidy, hybrids, DNA methylation, histones, RNA, chromatin, silencing, transgenes, transposons, genome evolution, plant population biology, plant systematics, variation, heritability, plant development.
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