Epigenetic Regulation of Plant Immune Responses to Pathogens

Abstract

Plants as immobile organisms are perpetually subjected to environmental changes and various biotic stresses. Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and fungi can severely hinder plant growth and development thus presenting significant challenges to global food security. The relationship between plants and pathogens has led to evolution of intrinsic system such as gene expression networks, which enable plants to protect themselves from pathogenic threats. These recognition mechanisms allow plants to identify invading microbial pathogens and trigger subsequent defense responses. Thus, plants have evolved advanced and highly regulated strategy to address pathogen threats and to relay information to subsequent generation ultimately creation of stress memory. Recent studies reveal involvement of regulated epigenetic mechanisms; DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling complexes and non-coding RNAs in the regulation of defense-related genes. In this chapter, we explored these epigenetic mechanisms and defensive pathways employed by plants in response to biotic stresses.