Rice inherits tolerance to cold without DNA changes
8 hours ago
- #cold tolerance
- #epigenetics
- #rice
- Rice plants can inherit cold tolerance without DNA changes, as shown in a study published in Cell.
- The study identifies epigenetic tweaks as the mechanism for heritable cold tolerance in rice plants.
- Researchers found fewer chemical tags on the ACT1 gene in cold-tolerant rice plants, demonstrating causality.
- The adaptation occurred over just a few generations, much faster than expected through natural selection.
- Extensive genetic testing confirmed the changes were epigenetic, not due to DNA sequence mutations.