Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics, Sieker Landstr. 2, D-22927, Grosshansdorf, Germany.
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Karlowicza 24, Bydgoszcz, 85-095, Poland.
BMC Plant Biol. 2024 Aug 15;24(1):779. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05425-6.
β-Aminobutyric acid (BABA) has been successfully used to prime stress resistance in numerous plant species; however, its effectiveness in forest trees has been poorly explored thus far. This study aimed to investigate the influence of BABA on morphological, physiological, and epigenetic parameters in field elms under various growth conditions. Epigenetic changes were assessed in both DNA and RNA through the use of reversed-phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with sensitive mass spectrometry.
The presented results confirm the influence of BABA on the development, physiology, and stress tolerance in field elms. However, the most important findings are related to the broad epigenetic changes promoted by this amino acid, which involve both DNA and RNA. Our findings confirm, for the first time, that BABA influences not only well-known epigenetic markers in plants, such as 5-methylcytosine, but also several other non-canonical nucleobases, such as 5-hydroxymethyluracil, 5-formylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, N6-methyladenine, uracil (in DNA) and thymine (in RNA). The significant effect on the levels of N6-methyladenine, the main bacterial epigenetic marker, is particularly noteworthy. In this case, the question arises as to whether this effect is due to epigenetic changes in the microbiome, the plant genome, or both.
The plant phenotype is the result of complex interactions between the plant's DNA, the microbiome, and the environment. We propose that different types of epigenetic changes in the plant and microbiome may play important roles in the largely unknown memory process that enables plants to adapt faster to changing environmental conditions.
β-氨基丁酸（BABA）已成功用于多种植物物种的应激抗性诱导，但迄今为止，其在林木中的有效性尚未得到充分探索。本研究旨在研究 BABA 对不同生长条件下田间榆树的形态、生理和表观遗传参数的影响。通过反相超高效液相色谱（UPLC）与灵敏质谱联用，评估 DNA 和 RNA 中的表观遗传变化。
本研究结果证实了 BABA 对田间榆树的发育、生理和胁迫耐受性的影响。然而，最重要的发现与这种氨基酸促进的广泛表观遗传变化有关，涉及 DNA 和 RNA。我们的研究结果首次证实，BABA 不仅影响植物中众所周知的表观遗传标记物，如 5-甲基胞嘧啶，还影响其他几种非典型核苷碱基，如 5-羟甲基尿嘧啶、5-甲酰基胞嘧啶、5-羟甲基胞嘧啶、N6-甲基腺嘌呤、尿嘧啶（在 DNA 中）和胸腺嘧啶（在 RNA 中）。值得注意的是，BABA 对主要细菌表观遗传标记物 N6-甲基腺嘌呤水平的显著影响。在这种情况下，问题是这种影响是由于微生物组、植物基因组还是两者的表观遗传变化引起的。
植物表型是植物 DNA、微生物组和环境之间复杂相互作用的结果。我们提出，植物和微生物组中不同类型的表观遗传变化可能在使植物能够更快适应不断变化的环境条件的未知记忆过程中发挥重要作用。
