Authors
Haiyi Chen, Yanqing Xu, Qian Xie, Fengqun Zhen, Wei Wang, Min Xiao, Tianjin Zhang, Junjie Xu, Shuqin Ran, Xiaolan Rao, Sanhe Li, Yanlong Gong, Zhaojian Song, Yuchi He, Detian Cai, Xianhua Zhang
Published in
Plant physiology. Sep 07, 2026. Epub Sep 07, 2026.
Abstract
Polyploid plants exhibit enhanced stress resistance and superior adaptability to extreme environments, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here we confirm that tetraploid rice exhibits stronger cold tolerance than diploid rice. This improved tolerance is mediated by reduced malondialdehyde accumulation, elevated antioxidant enzyme activity, and epigenetic regulation of genes involved in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and signaling. Under cold stress, tetraploid rice induces stress-responsive genes (especially in the ABA pathway) more rapidly and to higher levels than diploid rice. This enhanced gene expression coincides with increased endogenous ABA accumulation. Furthermore, polyploidization and cold stress synergistically induce high methylation at CG, CHG, and CHH sites in genes and transposons (TEs). Notably, the methylation level of class II TEs in tetraploid rice is significantly higher than in diploid rice under low temperatures. To suppress TE activation in gene promoter regions under cold stress, tetraploid rice enhances the methylation level of ABA pathway-related gene promoters, thereby silencing TEs and maintaining genome stability. Collectively, these results enrich the theoretical understanding of the strong stress tolerance in polyploid plants and provide theoretical support for breeding cold-tolerant polyploid rice varieties.
PMID:
42703726
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Sep 2026.
Read full publication at:
Please sign in
to see all details.
Advertisement
Stats
- Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
- Views 8
- Comments 0