ABSTRACT
Conventional plant breeders focus on accumulating the desirable alleles for improvement of traits of interest. However, rapid strides in epigenetic research have opened new avenues for crop improvement utilizing a unique type of variation having no direct correlation with DNA polymorphisms. Epigenetics could provide increased opportunity for breeders to raise plants having high vigor in the desired traits. Epigenetics refers to the study of heritable phenotypic alterations that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence but often involve variations affecting gene activity and expression. Epigenetic variations are sometimes heritable and involve a variety of chromatin marks such as cytosine methylation, modification of histones, chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNAs. This chapter delves into the various facets of plant epigenetics and explores its potential in crop improvement.
