中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所曹晓风小组的一项最新研究报道了水稻获得性适应性耐寒性的DNA甲基化遗传。这一研究成果发表在2025年5月22日出版的国际学术期刊《细胞》上。

在栽培的亚洲水稻（Oryzasativa L.）中，该研究团队发现了一个具有获得性和遗传性耐寒性的外等位基因，这是一种使其从热带起源向北传播的适应性性状。研究小组对冷敏感水稻进行了多代冷胁迫，并鉴定了一个获得稳定耐寒遗传的品系。获得性耐冷1 （ACT1）启动子区域的DNA低甲基化变异使其表达对寒冷不敏感。正如DNA甲基化编辑所证实的那样，这种变化在很大程度上是后天获得的耐寒性的原因。ACT1 DNA低甲基化的自然变异与水稻的耐寒性和地理分布有关。ACT1的低甲基化触发适应性耐寒性，为获得性特征的表观遗传变异驱动遗传提供了一条途径。

据了解，正如Lamarck在1802年提出的那样，表观遗传途径可以为获得性特征的遗传提供一种机制解释，但很少观察到赋予适应性遗传特征的表观遗传改变。

附：英文原文

Title: Inheritance of acquired adaptive cold tolerance in rice through DNA methylation

Author: Xianwei Song, Shanjie Tang, Hui Liu, Ying Meng, Haofei Luo, Bao Wang, Xiu-Li Hou, Bin Yan, Chao Yang, Zhenhua Guo, Lizhi Wang, Shukun Jiang, Xian Deng, Xiaofeng Cao

Issue&Volume: 2025-05-22

Abstract: Epigenetic pathways could provide a mechanistic explanation for the inheritance of acquired characteristics, as proposed by Lamarck in 1802, but epigenetic alterations that endow adaptive hereditary traits have rarely been observed. Here, in cultivated Asian rice (Oryzasativa L.), we identified an epiallele conferring acquired and heritable cold tolerance, an adaptive trait enabling northward spread from its tropical origins. We subjected cold-sensitive rice to multigenerational cold stress and identified a line with acquired stable inheritance of cold tolerance. DNA-hypomethylation variation in the acquiredcoldtolerance 1 (ACT1) promoter region rendered its expression insensitive to cold. This change is, in large part, responsible for the acquired cold tolerance, as confirmed by DNA-methylation editing. Natural variation in ACT1 DNA hypomethylation is associated with cold tolerance and rice geographic distribution. Hypomethylation at ACT1 triggers adaptive cold tolerance, presenting a route to epigenetic-variation-driven inheritance of acquired characteristics.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.036

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00506-9