Summary
This review explores the role of maternal environmental effects in shaping epigenetic inheritance in crop plants, with particular focus on how such mechanisms could be exploited to develop climate-smart seeds. The authors, drawn from multiple European research institutions, synthesise current understanding of epigenetic pathways — including DNA methylation and chromatin remodelling — that transmit stress-adaptive information across generations. The paper argues that integrating epigenetic approaches into commercial seed breeding programmes could offer a route to improved crop resilience under changing climatic conditions.
UK applicability
While not UK-specific, the findings are broadly applicable to UK arable and horticultural systems facing increasing climate variability; UK plant breeders and seed companies could draw on the epigenetic strategies reviewed here to inform pre-breeding and variety development programmes aligned with post-Brexit agricultural innovation priorities.
Key measures
Epigenetic markers (DNA methylation, histone modification, small RNA pathways); seed performance traits; stress memory indicators; transgenerational inheritance of adaptive traits
Outcomes reported
The paper examines how maternal environmental conditions during seed development can induce heritable epigenetic changes in offspring crops, and how these mechanisms might be harnessed to produce climate-smart seeds. It reviews evidence for epigenetic inheritance pathways and their potential utility in plant breeding and the seed industry.
Topic tags
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