The environmentally responsive plant epigenome: insights from jasmonate signaling

Abstract

The environmental responsiveness of the plant epigenome is essential for spatiotemporally precise gene regulation, enabling plants to adapt to external cues. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying this responsiveness is therefore fundamental to deciphering the molecular logic of plant-environment interactions. In this review, we highlight the dynamic regulation of the plant epigenome by the hormone jasmonic acid (JA), which orchestrates immune and developmental responses. Our understanding of JA-induced epigenome reprogramming has expanded significantly in recent years, and these insights can serve as a blueprint for other environmental response pathways. The hallmarks of an environmentally responsive epigenome will be emphasized, focusing on the roles of transcription factors as epigenome architects and on three-dimensional chromatin reorganization as an emerging hallmark of epigenome responsiveness. We envision that the general principles of cue-induced epigenome reprogramming outlined here will guide future studies across diverse cues and species.