The Library
Epigenetic responses to environmental stress in plants
Tools
Barrington, Christopher (2013) Epigenetic responses to environmental stress in plants. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
Text
WRAP_THESIS_Barrington_2013.pdf - Submitted Version Download (26Mb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2703713~S9
Abstract
Environmental signals can directly influence gene expression through epigenetic
mechanisms, causing phenotypic changes that can be transmitted to progeny. In plants, this
is in part achieved by short interfering RNA (siRNA) which guide covalent modification of
DNA, such as cytosine methylation, to specific targets including repetitive sequences and
transposable elements. Environmental stress also leads to genome-wide DNA
hypomethylation, misregulation of transposable elements and ultimately ‘genomic shock’.
Although most stress-induced epigenetic modifications are not thought to be heritable, there
is increasing evidence for the inheritance of novel environmentally-induced epigenetic states
or ‘environmental epialleles’. The formation of environmental epialleles represents an
important source of variation and a powerful driving force of adaptive evolution but the
precise mechanism remains unclear.
The aim of this thesis is to identify environmental epialleles through computational methods.
Analysis of Illumina sequencing data from environmentally stressed maize plants sampled
during stress and after a recovery period has so far revealed that a significant proportion of
the maize genome is misregulated at both the genetic and epigenetic level. These findings
indicate that plants continue to respond after exposure to stress and that this response is
likely mediated by at least one epigenetic mechanism, including siRNA-directed DNA
modifications.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics Q Science > QK Botany |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Plants -- Effect of stress on -- Genetic aspects, Epigenetics | ||||
Official Date: | July 2013 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Systems Biology Doctoral Training Centre | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Gutierrez-Marcos, Jose; Kalvala, Sara | ||||
Extent: | xvi, 394 leaves : illustrations, charts. | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year