Effects of Selenium on DNA Methylation and Genomic Instability Induced by Drought Stress in Bread Wheat

Wheat is an essential cereal crop, and maintaining its output under drought stress is crucial for world food security. For this reason, strategies to decrease the detrimental influences of drought stress have been investigated recently and their effects have been tried to reveal. The primary aim of our examination was to clarify the influence of Selenium on the occurrence of DNA damage and DNA methylation in wheat plants exposed to drought stress under in vitro tissue culture. RAPD and CRED-RA were utilized to explain the DNA damage grade and variations in DNA methylation patterns, respectively. The outcomes indicate that drought stress gives rise to a rise in RAPD profile variations (as DNA damage) and a decrease in GTS rate and DNA methylation changes. However, DNA damage can be reduced by treatment with sodium selenite (2, 4, and 6 µM of Na2SeO4) together with PEG (5%, 10%, 15% PEG 6000)-induced water deficits. Moreover, PEG-induced DNA methylation rates were changed after the treatment of different doses of Se. These data demonstrate that Se dose-dependently modulates both DNA damage and methylation alterations induced drought in wheat.