“…Indeed, gene activation by DMLs is necessary for the response of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses (Bharti, Mahajan, Vishwakarma, Bhardwaj, & Yadav, ; Le et al, ; Yu et al, ) and for plant development (Gehring et al, ; Liu et al, ). Epigenetic regulation of adaptive responses of forest tree species to the environment, such as changes in DNA methylation, has been implicated in the switch from active growth to dormancy (Conde, González‐Melendi, & Allona, ; Kumar, Rattan, & Singh, ; Santamaría et al, ; R. Zhu et al, ), possibly one of the most critical developmental transitions for the survival of perennial plants. Here, we report the identification, phylogenetic and expression analyses and phenological studies of a chestnut 5mC DNA DML, whose overexpression promotes apical bud maturation in poplar.…”