{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: DNA methylation mediates overgrazing-induced clonal transgenerational plasticity.
{Author}: Yin J;Ren W;Fry EL;Sun S;Han H;Guo F;
{Journal}: Sci Total Environ
{Volume}: 897
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 2023 Nov 1
{Factor}: 10.753
{DOI}: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165338
{Abstract}: Overgrazing generally induces dwarfism in grassland plants, and these phenotypic traits could be transmitted to clonal offspring even when overgrazing is excluded. However, the dwarfism-transmitted mechanism remains largely unknown, despite generally thought to be enabled by epigenetic modification. To clarify the potential role of DNA methylation on clonal transgenerational effects, we conducted a greenhouse experiment with Leymus chinensis clonal offspring from different cattle/sheep overgrazing histories via the demethylating agent 5-azacytidine. The results showed that clonal offspring from overgrazed (by cattle or sheep) parents were dwarfed and the auxin content of leaves significantly decreased compared to offspring from no-grazed parents'. The 5-azaC application generally increased the auxin content and promoted the growth of overgrazed offspring while inhibited no-grazed offspring growth. Meanwhile, there were similar trends in the expression level of genes related to auxin-responsive target genes (ARF7, ARF19), and signal transduction gene (AZF2). These results suggest that DNA methylation leads to overgrazing-induced plant transgenerational dwarfism via inhibiting auxin signal pathway.