Institutes of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
PLoS One. 2013 Nov 5;8(11):e78426. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078426. eCollection 2013.
Salinity is a widespread environmental problem limiting productivity and growth of plants. Halophytes which can adapt and resist certain salt stress have various mechanisms to defend the higher salinity and alkalinity, and epigenetic mechanisms especially DNA methylation may play important roles in plant adaptability and plasticity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the different influences of various single salts (NaCl, Na2SO4, NaHCO3, Na2CO3) and their mixed salts on halophyte Chloris. virgata from the DNA methylation prospective, and discover the underlying relationships between specific DNA methylation variations and specific cations/anions through the methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism analysis. The results showed that the effects on DNA methylation variations of single salts were ranked as follows: Na2CO3> NaHCO3> Na2SO4> NaCl, and their mixed salts exerted tissue-specific effects on C. virgata seedlings. Eight types of DNA methylation variations were detected and defined in C. virgata according to the specific cations/anions existed in stressful solutions; in addition, mix-specific and higher pH-specific bands were the main type in leaves and roots independently. These findings suggested that mixed salts were not the simple combination of single salts. Furthermore, not only single salts but also mixed salts showed tissue-specific and cations/anions-specific DNA methylation variations.
盐度是限制植物生产力和生长的广泛存在的环境问题。能够适应和抵抗一定盐胁迫的盐生植物具有各种防御高盐和高碱度的机制，表观遗传机制，特别是 DNA 甲基化，可能在植物的适应性和可塑性中发挥重要作用。在这项研究中，我们旨在从 DNA 甲基化的角度研究不同单盐（NaCl、Na2SO4、NaHCO3、Na2CO3）及其混合盐对盐生植物马蔺的不同影响，并通过甲基化敏感扩增多态性分析发现特定 DNA 甲基化变化与特定阳离子/阴离子之间的潜在关系。结果表明，单盐对 DNA 甲基化变化的影响顺序为：Na2CO3>NaHCO3>Na2SO4>NaCl，其混合盐对马蔺幼苗具有组织特异性影响。根据胁迫溶液中存在的特定阳离子/阴离子，在马蔺中检测到并定义了 8 种 DNA 甲基化变化类型；此外，在叶片和根中，混合特异性和更高 pH 特异性带是主要类型。这些发现表明，混合盐不是单盐的简单组合。此外，不仅单盐，而且混合盐也表现出组织特异性和阳离子/阴离子特异性 DNA 甲基化变化。
