Resource type
Date created
2012
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
Plants have a remarkable ability to react to seasonal changes by synchronizing life-cycle transitions with environmental conditions. We addressed the question of how transcriptional re-programming occurs in response to an environmental cue that triggers the major life cycle transition from seed dormancy to germination and seedling growth. We elucidated an important mechanistic aspect of this process by following the chromatin dynamics of key regulatory genes with a focus on the two antagonistic marks, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3. Histone methylation patterns of major dormancy regulators changed during the transition to germination and seedling growth. We observed a switch from H3K4me3 and high transcription levels to silencing by the repressive H3K27me3 mark when dormancy was broken through exposure to moist chilling, underscoring that a functional PRC2 complex is necessary for this transition. Moreover, this reciprocal regulation by H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 is evolutionarily conserved from gymnosperms to angiosperms.
Document
Published as
Müller K, Bouyer D, Schnittger A, Kermode AR (2012) Evolutionarily Conserved Histone Methylation Dynamics during Seed Life-Cycle Transitions. PLoS ONE 7(12): e51532. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051532
Publication details
Publication title
PLoS ONE
Document title
Evolutionarily Conserved Histone Methylation Dynamics during Seed Life-Cycle Transitions
Date
2012
Volume
7
Issue
12
Publisher DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0051532
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Funder
Language
English
Member of collection
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