Fig. (1).

A schematic diagram showing the involvement of epigenetic mechanism in plant cell under abiotic stresses. Plant can cope with these harsh environments by activating epigenetic switch. These modifications involve DNA methylation, RNA directed DNA methylation and histone modification events in the plant cell. Hypomethylation can lead to activation of gene/transposon while hypermethylation reduces the activity of gene/transposon. Histone methylation and acetylation also alter the gene expression to regulate abiotic stress response of a plant. CMT3, Chromomethylase; DCL3, Dicer-like 3; DRM, domain rearrangement methyltransferase; MET1, methyltransferase; Pol IV/V, DNA-dependent RNA polymerase; RDR2, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 2.