Biologia plantarum - Latest articles

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Overexpression of the alfalfa zeaxanthin epoxidase gene delaysseed germination in transgenic tobaccoOriginal Papers

Y.M. CAO, Z.Q. ZHANG, T. ZHANG, J. AN, L.Q. CHANG, Y.F. WANG, H.X. WU, T.M. HU, P.Z. YANG

Biologia Plantarum 63: 627-632, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.059

Zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) plays important roles in plant growth and development due to its functions in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and in the xanthophyll cycle. Many studies have been exploring the roles of ZEP in seed germination and response to various environmental stresses. In this study, we reported that heterologously overexpressing the ZEP gene from Medicago sativa (MsZEP) in tobacco increased ABA content in tobacco mature seeds and negatively regulated seed germination. Enhanced ABA synthesis in seed embryo and delayed germination might also be related to the increased 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED6)...

A novel potato microRNA stu-miR856 regulates mitogen-activatedprotein kinase genes contributing to drought toleranceOriginal Papers

J.W. YANG, X. ZHU, S.G. LI, X. TANG, N. ZHANG, H.J. SI

Biologia Plantarum 63: 618-626, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.067

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are significant components of MAPK cascades, which play versatile roles in different transduction pathways to mediate stress adaptation. However, little information is known about post-transcriptional regulation of MAPK genes in plant under drought stress. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of newly identified, short non-coding RNAs, regulate the expression of target genes in plant growth, development, and stress responses. In order to investigate the mechanism of miRNA regulating MAPK genes in potato, we identified a novel potato miRNA with the sequence CGGCCTTAATAAGATGGTGAAG and named it as stu-miR856...

Identification of differentially expressed genes of Haloxylon ammodendronin response to salinity stressOriginal Papers

J.F. HE, Y.Y. FANG, Z.X. LU, L.W. WANG, X.Q. ZHAO, X.F. FU, J. ZHAO, H.K. LIU

Biologia Plantarum 63: 610-617, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.066

Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey.), an endangered desert tree with excellent drought and salinity tolerance, provides a unique genotype to characterize and understand the tolerance mechanisms. In this study, four RNA-Seq libraries were constructed and sequenced from H. ammodendron under salinity stress. Total 12 027 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, in which 4 023, 3 517, 4 487 genes were differentially expressed under light salinity stress (200 mM NaCl), moderate salinity stress (400 mM NaCl), and severe salinity stress (800 mM NaCl), respectively. The up-regulated DEGs included several transcription factors (e.g.,...

Virus-induced gene silencing for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase affects pepper adaption to low temperatureOriginal Papers

G.-X. CHENG, J.-T. SUN, J.-P. SHANG, Z.-H. GONG

Biologia Plantarum 63: 601-609, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.063

Reverse genetics approaches in plants rely on post-transcriptional gene silencing to study the function of genes. In particular, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) has been successfully applied to identify gene function in some crops. To date, it is unclear whether phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) is involved in low temperature tolerance in the pepper. Here, we used an agroinfiltration protocol with tobacco rattle virus (TRV) constructs containing partial sequences from CaPAL for VIGS to test its role in anthocyanin biosynthesis and response to low temperature in the pepper (Capsicum annuum). We found that accumulation of anthocyanins...

Evaluating the role of wheat histone variant genes in development and response to abiotic stress in ArabidopsisOriginal Papers

H. LV, X. CUI, P. ZHANG, Y. LI, Y. JI, Y. WANG, G. XIA, M. WANG

Biologia Plantarum 63: 594-600, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.113

Histone variants can epigenetically regulate gene transcription through chromatin modulation. This regulation have been occasionally found in responses to abiotic stresses in plants, but their roles are not quite clear. Here, we describe 12 salt-responsive histone variant genes isolated from wheat. There was no sequence polymorphism in these 12 genes between the wheat cultivar 'JN177'and its salinity and drought tolerant derivative 'SR3' indicating that histone variant genes are highly conserved. However, these genes displayed differential patterns of transcription in 'JN177' and 'SR3'. When transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana, eight of the...

Recent advances and perspectives in crop biofortificationReviews

T. VLČKO, L. OHNOUTKOVÁ^*

Biologia Plantarum 63: 586-593, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.056

The increasing world population and limited amount of land area appropriate for intensive agriculture necessitate high-yield cultivars. The focus is on the enrichment of existing crops deficient in nutrients, which is also called biofortification. Microelements, vitamins, and fatty acids belong to most important traits being subjected to biofortification. Biofortification strategies can be divided on fertilization-based strategy, which is characterized by direct application of nutrients or plant growth promoting substances on plants, and biotechnological strategy, which involves molecular biology techniques in order to enhance transport, production,...

Effects of drought on expression patterns of genes encoding the antioxidantenzymes associated with chloroplasts in wheatOriginal Papers

S.F. DANYALI, M. MOGHADDAM VAHED, S.S. ALAVIKIA, H. SAMIZADEH LAHIJI, M. NOROUZI

Biologia Plantarum 63: 575-585, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.055

Reactive oxygen species lead to cellular damage and in plants exposed to drought stress, an increasing expressions of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes play important protective roles. The aim of this study was to evaluate response of drought tolerant ('Arg' and 'Roshan') and drought sensitive ('Arta' and 'Navid') wheat cultivars to oxidative stress caused by drought. Relative water content (RWC), water loss rate (WLR), free proline content, malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, and peroxidase (POX) activity were measured after 2, 4, 6, and 8 h of dehydration. The tolerant cultivars had a higher RWC and lower MDA, proline content, POX activity and WLR...

Comparative analysis of complete chloroplast genomes sequencesof Arctium lappa and A. tomentosumOriginal Papers

Y.-P. XING, L. XU, S.-Y. CHEN, Y.-M. LIANG, J.-H. WANG, C.-S. LIU, T. LIU, T.-G. KANG

Biologia Plantarum 63: 565-574, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.101

Arctium lappa and A. tomentosum are known medicinal plants in China. The complete chloroplast genomes from A. lappa and A. tomentosum were sequenced using Illumina sequencing technology. The total genome sizes of the complete chloroplast genomes of A. lappa and A. tomentosum were 152 767 bp and 152 688 bp, respectively, and contained a pair of inverted repeats of the same length (15,181 bp). The small single-copies were 18 584 bp and 18 582 bp, and the large single-copies were 83 821 bp and 83 744 bp, respectively. We identified and annotated 134 and 126 genes from A. lappa and A. tomentosum...

Expression profile analysis of MATE gene family in riceOriginal Papers

J.J. HUANG, W. J. AN, K. J. WANG, T.H. JIANG, Q. REN, W.H. LIANG, H.H. WANG^*

Biologia Plantarum 63: 556-564, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.099

Multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) proteins is a newly characterized transporter family in plants. However, knowledge of this family in systematic classification, molecular evolution, and expression patterns in plants is limited. In this study, MATE gene sequence, structure, and names as well as MATE protein size and subcellular localization in rice were analyzed using bioinformatics tools, chromosome localizations, and gene clusters. The function of MATE proteins was further elucidated on a basis of phylogenetic relationships. Using available transcriptomic data, the expression pattern and function of MATE were different in...

Physiological and molecular responses of two Chinese cabbage genotypes to heat stressOriginal Papers

Q. SONG, F. YANG, B. CUI, J. LI, Y. ZHANG, H. LI, N. QIU, F. WANG, J. GAO

Biologia Plantarum 63: 548-555, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.097

A comparative investigation of heat stress-mediated physiological and biochemical parameters in conjunction with the expression analysis of heat shock transcription factors (BrHSF) from two different Chinese cabbage genotypes was done to understand the mechanism of heat tolerance. Our results show that the heat-tolerant (2013-33) genotype had a smaller relative electric conductivity, a less malondialdehyde content and a higher maximal efficiency of photosystem II photochemistry than the heat-sensitive (AM160) genotype, and was able to develop the leaf head under heat stress, whereas 'AM160' flailed to develop it. The results also indicate...

Molecular and physiological analysis of drought stress responses in Zea mays treated with plant growth promoting rhizobacteriaOriginal Papers

I. AHMAD, S. ZAIB, P.C.M.S. ALVES, D.S. LUTHE, A. BANO, S.N. SHAKEEL

Biologia Plantarum 63: 536-547, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.092

Our research intended to appraise the performance of two different Pseudomonas strains on Zea mays L. (cv. B73) under drought stress and non-stress conditions. Plants were inoculated with P. putida KT2440 (Pp) and P. fluorescens (Pf1) followed by sampling at 0, 3^rd, and 6^th day after imposition of drought stress (DAS). Both strains demonstrated significant improvement in root length, protein content, chlorophyll content, and root and shoot fresh masses as compared to un-inoculated drought stressed plants. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that drought stress responsive genes, i.e.,...

The crucial role of gibberellic acid on germination of drought-resistant upland riceOriginal Papers

J.-Z. LI, M.-Q. LI, Y.-C. HAN, H.-Z. SUN, Y.-X. DU, Q.-Z. ZHAO^*

Biologia Plantarum 63: 529-535, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.049

Drought is one of the main factors restricting seed germination. In order to reveal the physiological and molecular mechanisms of improved germination ability in upland rice under drought stress, we investigated the seed germination characteristics and the expression of genes related to gibberellic acid (GA₃), α-amylase, and expansin of upland rice cultivar IRAT109 and lowland rice cultivar Yuefu under drought stress induced by 15 % (m/v) polyethylene glycol (PEG) and GA₃ application. Seed germination decreased in upland rice and lowland rice under PEG-induced stress; upland rice was less affected than lowland rice. The germination...

Exogenous spermidine enhances expression of Calvin cycle genes andphotosynthetic efficiency in sweet sorghum seedlings under salt stressOriginal Papers

A.I. EL SAYED, M.A.M. EL-HAMAHMY, M.S. RAFUDEEN, M.K.H. EBRAHIM

Biologia Plantarum 63: 511-518, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.046

Salinity adversely affects plants resulting in disruption to plant growth and physiology. Previously, it has been shown that these negative effects can be alleviated by various exogenous polyamines. However, the role of spermidine (Spd) in conferring salinity tolerance in sorghum is not well documented. The effect of exogenous Spd on the responses of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) seedlings to salt stress (150 mM NaCl) was investigated by measuring photosynthetic carbon assimilation, Calvin cycle enzyme activities, and the the expression of respective genes. Application of 0.25 mM Spd alleviated the negative effects of salt stress on efficiency...

Effects of various winter chilling regimes on flowering quality indicatorsof Greek olive cultivarsOriginal Papers

G. KOUBOURIS^*, I. LIMPERAKI, M. DARIOTI, C. SERGENTANI

Biologia Plantarum 63: 504-510, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.065

Aims of the present two-year study were to evaluate the feasibility and identify potential drawbacks of the greenhouse/outdoors parallel plant growth methods for investigation of the effects of various winter chilling regimes on flowering quality indicators of four Greek olive cultivars, namely Mastoidis, Amfissis, and Lefkolia Serron (originating from mountainous and colder areas) compared to cv. Koroneiki (grown mainly in plain warm areas). Groups of potted olive plants were either grown outdoors under ambient temperature or transferred into a greenhouse for one, two, or three months during winter in Crete, Greece. During the first year, chilling...

Evaluation of Oryza coarctata candidate reference genes under different abiotic stressesOriginal Papers

S. CHOWRASIA, H. KAUR, A. MUJIB, T.K. MONDAL

Biologia Plantarum 63: 496-503, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.054

Oryza coarctata Roxb. is a wild halophytic species found mostly on South Asian seashore. It can tolerate salinity up to 4 S m^-1, which is equivalent to 479 mM NaCl. This species has unique morphological, anatomical, as well as physiological adaptations, which helps it to survive under high salinity and submerged conditions. Thus, it is considered to be a reservoir of salinity and submergence tolerance genes. For quantification of gene expressions, it is necessary to identify stable reference genes and validate stress responsive genes by real time quantitative PCR. The present study deals with the expression analyses of eight candidate reference...

Physiology and proteomics of two maize genotypes with different drought resistanceOriginal Papers

Y.H. LI, J.Y. CUI, Q. ZHAO, Y.Z. YANG, L. WEI, M.D. YANG, F. LIANG, S.T. DING, T.C. WANG

Biologia Plantarum 63: 519-528, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.085

The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological basis and molecular mechanism of genotypic variation in drought response of maize seedlings. Comparative physiological and proteomic analyses were conducted in the leaves of drought-tolerant Liyu 35 (LY) and drought-sensitive Denghai 605 (DH) maize genotype seedlings. Drought induced a significant decrease of relative water content and osmotic potential of leaves, length and volume of roots, and total dry weight, but significantly increased malondialdehyde in DH seedlings. However, root dry weight , proline content and antioxidant enzyme activities increased more in LY than in DH. Forty-two...

Identification and characterization of catalase genes in Eleusine coracanaunder abiotic stressesOriginal Papers

S. SINGH, R. CHOPPERLA, S. KHAN, N. REDDY, J.C. PADARIA, A. MOLKUMAR, A.U. SOLANKE

Biologia Plantarum 63: 440-447, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.048

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are byproducts of metabolic processes such as respiration and photosynthesis in plants. Production of ROS leads to rapid cell damage, and plants developed a complex system of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants to scavenge these ROS. Catalase is an important enzyme, which plays a key role in elimination of toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide and plays a major role as an antioxidant. When characterizing heat responsive genes in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) using a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) library, we isolated two catalase genes and named them as EcCATA1 and EcCATB1....

Sense- and antisense-mediated resistance against Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) in Nicotiana benthamianaOriginal Papers

A. GOGOI, A. KALDIS, I. DASGUPTA, B.K. BORAH, A. VOLOUDAKIS

Biologia Plantarum 63: 455-464, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.079

Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) is the principal causal agent of cassava mosaic disease in the Indian subcontinent. To gain resistance against the virus, the coat protein (CP) gene, namely the AV1 of SLCMV-Adivaram isolate, was cloned in either sense or antisense orientation under the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, and transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants were obtained through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A total of eight T1 transgenic lines, four harboring the CP-sense construct and four harboring the CP-antisense construct were challenged with agro-infectious clones...

Multifunctional proline rich proteins and their role in regulating cellular proline content in plants under stressReviews

R.S. GUJJAR, A.D. PATHAK, S.G. KARKUTE, K. SUPAIBULWATANA

Biologia Plantarum 63: 448-454, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.078

Proline rich proteins (PRPs), earlier famous as animal salivary proteins, have now been proven as indispensable plant proteins. They are highly rich in proline amino acid residues at the N-terminus whereas a characteristic eight cysteine motif is located at the C-terminus. The PRPs support a number of developmental processes from germination to plant death. Under normal environmental conditions, PRP genes express customarily in different plant parts depending on the specific function to be carried out. During abiotic stresses, PRP genes exhibit an uneven pattern of transcriptional regulation depending on the time and intensity of stress....

The intensity of and recovery from photoinhibition under drought in a thermotolerant common bean compared to drought tolerant genotypesOriginal Papers

D.C. MACEDO, G.R. LIMA, R.L.N. BARROS, C. PIMENTEL

Biologia Plantarum 63: 465-473, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.076

The chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters of four Phaseolus vulgaris L. genotypes were evaluated under drought in two greenhouse experiments. Under severe water stress, the thermotolerant genotype 'Diplomata' maintained significantly higher values of predawn leaf water potential (Ψ_w), maximum F_v/F_m and effective (Φ_PSII) quantum yield of photosystem II , and non-photochemical quenching than 'Ouro Negro', in the first experiment, and 'A 285' and 'A 222', in the second one. Among these parameters, F_v/F_m showed more differences that discriminated between the genotype...

Exogenous salicylic acid alleviates the oxidative damageof Arabidopsis thaliana by enhancing antioxidant defense systemsunder high lightOriginal Papers

Z.C. YANG, N. WU, L. TANG, X.H. YAN, M. YUAN, Z.W. ZHANG, S. YUAN, H.Y. ZHANG, Y.E. CHEN

Biologia Plantarum 63: 474-483, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.074

To understand the protective roles of salicylic acid (SA) under high light, we investigated oxidative damage of Arabidopsis thaliana under high light in the presence or absence of SA. The results indicate that the high light led to an increase in the levels of proline, soluble sugars, reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and electrolyte leakage, and a decrease in stomatal conductance (gs). Activities of six antioxidant enzymes increased significantly under the high light for 1 h. However, the high light for 3 h decreased the activities of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. In addition, we found that exogenous SA effectively...

Overexpression of the dominant negative nbexo70d1 mutantionconfers tolerance to salt stress in transgenic tobaccoOriginal Papers

N.N. TRINH, H.T. LE, T.P. NGUYEN

Biologia Plantarum 63: 484-495, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.058

The vesicle trafficking process, which involves exocytotic and endocytotic pathways, has been reported to play a role in regulating plant responses to different environmental stresses. The Exo70 protein is important for the localization of the exocyst in the plasma membrane; however, its role in the physiology of stress tolerance is currently unclear. In this study, we characterized NbExo70D1, an Exo70 gene from tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana). It was shown to have a role in the plant response to salt stress. More specifically, tolerance to salt stress is conferred by the overexpression of the dominant negative nbexo70d1 domain...

Influence of girdling on flower sex ratio, biochemical constituents, and fruit set intensity in mango (Mangifera indica L.)Original Papers

K. S. SHIVASHANKARA, G. A. GEETHA, and T. K. ROY

Biologia Plantarum 63: 432-439, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.064

The study was conducted in mango to understand the relationship of various metabolites with flower sex ratio (hermaphrodite/male) and fruit set using stem girdling technique. Girdling one year old branches was carried out in two cultivars, Mangifera indica 'Alphonso' and 'Totapuri' to retain 50, 100 and 150 leaves to vary the content of hormones, sugars, total carbohydrates, and amino acids. The increased leaf number was found to increase the total carbohydrates, glucose, fructose, and other sugars. Girdling also significantly increased the concentration of abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), indole acetic acid,...

RNDr. Tomáš Gichner, DrSc.Obituary

Diana Stavreva

Biologia Plantarum 63: iv-v, 2019

A leading figure in the field of plant genetics
RNDr. Tomáš Gichner, DrSc.
 passed away on 6^th January 2019 at the age of 83.

Transcriptome profiling in Salix matsudana during refilling xylem vessels after embolismOriginal Papers

Y.C. Yu, J.X. Liu, Z.Y. Sun

Biologia Plantarum 63: 425-431, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.061

The objective of this study is to understand the role of bark water uptake in refilling of xylem vessels after embolism in Salix matsudana. Further, we determined expression of genes closely related to xylem embolism repair. The isolated branch segments of S. matsudana were soaked in deionized water and after 2 h, the micro-computed tomography (CT) images, volume of xylem sap, osmotic potential of xylem sap, and the content of starch and soluble sugar were measured. At the same time, Illumina high-throughput sequencing (Hi Seq TM) was applied to obtain the xylem transcriptome profiling. The results showed that the soaked branches...

RNDr. Bohdan Slavík, DrSc.Obituary

J. Krekule

Biologia Plantarum 63: iii, 2019

A leading figure in the field of plant physiology
RNDr. Bohdan Slavík, DrSc.
passed away on 1^st August 2018 at the age of 93.

Rosmarinic acid accumulation in Melissa officinalis shoot cultures is mediated by ABAOriginal Papers

S.-M. Mousavi, L. Shabani

Biologia Plantarum 63: 418-424, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.057

Plant responses to elicitors are the result of a series of highly modulated consecutive changes in hormones or reactive oxygen species (ROS). Abscisic acid (ABA) is a stress hormone that coordinates the complex networks of stress responses and its content is rapidly changed in response to stresses. This study evaluated the effects of application of ABA (0, 5, 25, 50, and 100 µM) to shoot cultures of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) in Murashige and Skoog (MS) liquid medium on growth, H₂O₂ production, rosmarinic acid (RA) content, total phenolic compound accumulation, phenylalanine-ammonia lyase (PAL)...

Growth, secondary metabolism, and related gene expression in response to interactions of nitrogen and sulfur in Isatis indigoticaOriginal Papers

Y.J. Miao, R.J. Qu, J.T. Sha, Y.W. Cao, J.L. Guan, J. Xu, X.Q. Tang, F.Q Wang, J. Yang

Biologia Plantarum 63: 411-417, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.053

Nitrogen and sulfur are major elements influencing plant growth and production of secondary metabolites. They interact to each other, but little is known about it in Isatis indigotica Fort. plants. In this study, 15 different treatments representing all possible combinations of 3 N treatments (N1, N2, and N3, corresponding to 5, 15, and 25 mM N, respectively) and five S treatments (S0, S1, S2, S3, and S4, corresponding to 0.00, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00 and 7.50 mM S, respectively) were used, and plant growth, indigo and indirubin yields, and expressions of genes encoding enzymes involved in N and S metabolisms were measured. The results show that the...

Application of abscisic acid prevents leaf senescence at decreased irradianceBrief Communications

W. Kupis, E. Tomal, E. Niewiadomska

Biologia Plantarum 63: 405-410, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.052

Several lines of evidence suggest that plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and the activity of alternative respiratory pathway are somehow interrelated. In this paper, we tested how an application of ABA affects the alternative oxidase (AOX) pathway and leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Different effects of ABA application on the AOX activity were observed under high irradiance (HI) and low irradiance (LI). The expression of AOX1D gene was stimulated, whereas the expression of senescence marker gene WRKY53 was decreased due to ABA treatment. We also noticed that changes of AOX genes AOX1A and AOX1D,...

Somatic mutations, DNA methylation, and expression of DNA repair genes in Arabidopsis thaliana treated with 5-azacytidineOriginal Papers

K.V. Kiselev, Z.V. Ogneva, A.S. Dubrovina, N.N. Nityagovsky, A.R. Suprun

Biologia Plantarum 63: 398-404, 2019 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2019.051

An inhibitor of DNA methylation 5-azacytidine (5A) is a chemical analog of the nucleoside cytidine. This study investigated the influence of 5A-induced DNA hypomethylation on the accumulation of somatic DNA mutations (nucleotide substitutions, indels) in the Actin2 3′ untranslated region, nuclear internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8rRNA-ITS2, and the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase gene of Arabidopsis thaliana and analyzed concurrent changes in the expression of DNA methyltransferase and DNA repair genes. The 5A treatment (20 mg per 100 g of soil) decreased DNA methylation, and the detected 5A-induced demethylation...