Abstract
Aims
DNA methylation and demethylation are epigenetic responses to abiotic stresses. The aims of this study were to i) identify alterations in the DNA methylation patterns among rice plants grown with sufficient and low nitrogen (N) levels; ii) observe whether conditioning to N stress promoted alterations in methylation patterns; and iii) search for possible relationships among methylation alterations and phenotypic, physiological, and metabolic changes.
Methods
The N-stress treatments applied were as follows: over three consecutive generations, plants were either exposed to sufficient N (60 kg N ha−1 – Control group) or N stress (10 kg N ha−1) for only the last generation (NS1), the first and third generations (NS2 – intermittent stress), or all three generations (NS3 – recurrent stress). Non-stress cycles received sufficient N.
Results
It was observed that N stress led to a reduction in total DNA methylation compared to control. The greatest reduction was observed in the hemi-methylated bands. NS1- and NS3-treated plants had similar reductions in the total hemi-methylated and fully-methylated bands, as well as similar phenotypic characteristics and photosynthetic efficiencies. On the other hand, the NS2 treatment increased the number of fully-methylated bands, which corresponded with a strong reduction in grain yield and photosynthetic efficiency.
Conclusion
It was found that N stress stimulates changes in DNA methylation and that the duration of N-stress conditioning interferes with the methylation patterns of plants. Finally, a strong relationship between methylation status and photosynthetic, agronomic and N-use parameters was found.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
We thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Rio de Janeiro Research Foundation (FAPERJ) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher-Brazil (CAPES) for granting fellowships for the authors. This work was financially supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher-Brazil (CAPES)-Finance Code 001., Rio de Janeiro Research Foundation (FAPERJ) and the Plant Mineral Nutrition Laboratory (LNMP).
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EGP: Conceptualization, Experimental design, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data analysis, Writing – original draft.
LAS, CAB, MSF: Conceptualization, Writing – Reviewing and Editing, Supervision.
MAAS, HJOR: Supervision, methodology, mass spectrometry analysis.
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Pereira, E.G., Santos, L.A., Bucher, C.A. et al. Different low-nitrogen-stress regimes result in distinct DNA-methylation patterns, metabolic profiles, and morpho-physiological changes in rice. Plant Soil 481, 409–425 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05647-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05647-3