Plants are constantly challenged by various abiotic stresses throught their life cycle and have evolved complex defence systems to ensure survival. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated as byproducts of diverse metabolic pathways, acting not only as damaging molecules but also as essential signaling mediators at basal levels. Recent evidence indicates that enzymes involved in ROS/redox metabolism can influence gene expression by modulating histone modifications, particularly acetylation and methylation. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms linking ROS dynamics to epigenetic regulation remain poorly understood. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the interplay between ROS metabolism and global histone modifications in plants, highlighting how these interactions shape transcriptional reprogramming under stress conditions. Furthermore, we discuss how this crosstalk contributes to plant defence strategies against abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and heavy metal exposure, and we identify emerging questions and future research directions in this rapidly developing field.
Keskinoglu et al. (2026) studied this question.