A comprehensive review on epigenetic mechanisms and application of epigenetic modifications for crop improvement

Abstract Erosion of genetic diversity due to excessive breeding applications is a major threat to crop species. Plants should be genetically diverse to cope with repercussions of changing climate. Of late, diversity made available through epigenetic changes now appearing to be a novel source for crop improvement. Epigenetics is a phenomenon that alters heritable gene expression without implicating any variation in the genomic DNA sequences. The mechanism of epigenetics involves three important events viz., DNA methylation, histone post-translational modifications and RNA directed DNA methylation. These epigenetic modifications involve creation of memory marks which help plants to survive various stresses through physiological regulation based on their epigenetic history. Here, we represent a comprehensive review on the understanding of epigenetic mechanisms that contributes to plant responses towards several biotic and abiotic stresses. Moreover, we have also detailed about various epigenetic approaches that has improved several desirable agronomic traits. Hence, epigenetics is a potential research area that can be exploited for development of climate smart crop.