Epigenome guided crop improvement: current progress and future opportunities

Epigenomics encompasses a broad field of study, including the investigation of chromatin states, chromatin modifications and their impact on gene regulation; as well as the phenomena of epigenetic inheritance. The epigenome is a multi-modal layer of information superimposed on DNA sequences, instructing their usage in gene expression. As such, it is an emerging focus of efforts to improve crop performance. Broadly, this might be divided into avenues that leverage chromatin information to better annotate and decode plant genomes, and into complementary strategies that aim to identify and select for heritable epialleles that control crop traits independent of underlying genotype. In this review, we focus on the first approach, which we term 'epigenome guided' improvement. This encompasses the use of chromatin profiles to enhance our understanding of the composition and structure of complex crop genomes. We discuss the current progress and future prospects towards integrating this epigenomic information into crop improvement strategies; in particular for CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and precision genome engineering. We also highlight some specific opportunities and challenges, for grain and horticultural crops.

Automated summary

Epigenomics is a broad field of study that investigates the impact of chromatin states, chromatin modifications, and epigenetic inheritance on gene regulation. It plays a crucial role in improving crop performance by enhancing our understanding of complex crop genomes and identifying heritable epialleles that control crop traits independent of genotype.