Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2021
Combinations of maternal-specific repressive epigenetic marks in the endosperm control seed dormancy
Sato, Hikaru; Santos-Gonzalez, Juan; Koehler, ClaudiaAbstract
Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated trimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and methylation of histone 3 on lysine 9 (H3K9me) are two repressive epigenetic modifications that are typically localized in distinct regions of the genome. For reasons unknown, however, they co-occur in some organisms and special tissue types. In this study, we show that maternal alleles marked by H3K27me3 in the Arabidopsis endosperm were targeted by the H3K27me3 demethylase REF6 and became activated during germination. In contrast, maternal alleles marked by H3K27me3, H3K9me2, and CHG methylation (CHGm) are likely to be protected from REF6 targeting and remained silenced. Our study unveils that combinations of different repressive epigenetic modifications time a key adaptive trait by modulating access of REF6.Published in
eLife2021, volume: 10, article number: e64593
Publisher: ELIFE SCIENCES PUBLICATIONS LTD
Authors' information
Sato, Hikaru
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology
UKÄ Subject classification
Genetics
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64593
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113600