The Role of DNA Methylation in Perennial Plants

Abstract

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification of the genome in all organisms. This review presents the effect of DNA methylation in perennial fruit trees such as chestnut, apple, peach etc. In particular, DNA methylation has been shown to affect bud dormancy, the changes of developmental stages such as: flowering, the synthesis of anthocyanins, among other flavonoid compounds; it also affects the fertilization and perpetuation of many fruit trees. Finally, DNA methylation can be used as a tool for investigating the epigenetic diversity of a species.

Keywords

• anthocyanins
• dormancy
• fruit trees
• 5-methyl-cytosine