A new biology paper sheds light on how chromatin (the complex of DNA and proteins) is organized in a cell and how plants regulate genetic material, so that some genes are turned on and others are turned off - and it could make it possible for a new generation of plants to better adapt to and survive environmental swings such as droughts or floods.

The research in The Plant Cell could mean major advances for the agriculture industry. 

"If you understand how plants regulate their genetic material, you can possibly manipulate that in certain circumstances so that plants can withstand environmental changes," said Daniel Vera, a Florida State University graduate student and the lead author of the paper.

Establishing a protocol that scientists worldwide can use to map chromatin structures in plants has value. Though many scientists study plant genetics, they all used multiple ways to examine a cell's DNA-protein complexes. All cells in an organism typically have the same genetic material, despite the variation in tissues and organs. That is because within those cells, differential gene expression gives rise to different properties of tissues.

So Vera and colleagues set out to find a way for scientists to better research this genetic material in plants. But, as they began their work, they hit a wall. The research team exposed 12 different samples of a maize genome to an enzyme to cut through the DNA, except where it was protected by proteins -- a method to chart the so-called chromatin landscape.

Despite careful control of the experiment, certain regions of DNA differed wildly from one sample to the next, initially leaving the researchers stumped and looking for answers.

Eventually, the group discovered that these variable regions were hypersensitive to the enzyme.

"It was almost like baking a cake," said Florida State University Associate Professor Hank Bass. "It's never the same if you bake it 32 different times. Three hundred-fifty degrees is not the same in every household."

Once they discovered the root of the problem, researchers were able to control the enzyme reaction and show that these same regions were likely sites of genetic regulation.

In doing so, they found biochemical signatures in the DNA that scientists hadn't previously examined. Bass compared it to putting on infrared goggles in a dark forest to suddenly see all the warm-blooded animals.

"We have found new ways to see really important parts of the chromatin," Bass said. "People just missed it before."

Though the research was conducted on maize tissues, the results and protocol established through the research are translatable to other plants and mammals.