Effect of 5-azacytidine induced DNA demethylation on abiotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

The effect of 5-azacytidine (5A)-induced DNA hypomethylation on the growth and abiotic stress tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana were analysed. Growth analysis revealed that aqueous solutions of 5A added to the soil did not affect the fresh and dry biomass accumulation but led to a higher percentage of flowering A. thaliana plants after four weeks of cultivation. The 5A treatment considerably lowered survival rates of Arabidopsis plants under high soil salinity, heat stress, and drought, while it did not affect the survival rates after freezing stress. 5A eliminated the stimulatory effect of the heat and drought stresses on the transcriptional levels of a number of stress-inducible genes, such as DREB1, LEA, SOS1, or RD29A. A less clear but similar trend has been detected for the effect of 5A on expression of the stress-inducible genes under salt and cold stresses. The data indicate that DNA methylation is an important mechanism regulating plant abiotic stress resistance.

Inhibition of DNA demethylation enhances plant tolerance to cadmium toxicity by improving iron nutrition

“…5-aza is a chemical analogue of the nucleoside cytidine and has been characterized as a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (Goffin & Eisenhauer, 2002;Griffin, Niederhuth, & Schmitz, 2016). This chemical agent has been widely used to decrease the level of DNA methylation in both animal and plant genomes (Plumb, Strathdee, Sludden, Kaye, & Brown, 2000;Griffin et al, 2016;Tyunin, Ageenko, & Kiselev, 2016;Ogneva, Suprun, Dubrovina, & Kiselev, 2019;Rius et al, 2009). Therefore, 5aza was used in the present study.…”

Exogenous application of 5-azacitidin, royal jelly and folic acid regulate plant redox state, expression level of DNA methyltransferases and alleviate adverse effects of salinity stress on Vicia faba L. plants

“…Besides the antioxidant properties of RJ, it may also play a role in suppressing the enzymes that initiate the peroxidation of endogenous lipids and the expression of cytochrome P450 gene which consider as intracellular source of some free radicals such as H 2 O 2 , O 2 • and HO • radicals [ 51 ]. Recovery effect of folic acid on stressed plants could be explained by increased activity of CAT and APX H 2 O 2 scavenging enzymes [ 52 ]. Inhibition of DNA-methylation by 5-AZA increased plant viability and adaptation to several abiotic stresses [ 52 ].…”

Heat stress in symbiotic dinoflagellates: signalling towards life or death?

“…The drug 5-AZA inhibits DNA methylation, and consequently, the loss in DNA methylation may change the regulation of specific genes and their expression (Christman 2002). In plants under heat stress, survival rates were lowered when exposed to the 5-AZA (Ogneva Z.V. 2019).…”