Xiaofeng Gu

Repression of the floral transition via histone H2B monoubiquitination

The Rad6-Bre1 complex monoubiquitinates histone H2B in target gene chromatin, and plays an important role in positively regulating gene expression in yeast. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis relatives of the yeast Rad6, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 1 (UBC1) and UBC2, redundantly mediate histone H2B monoubiquitination, and upregulate the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC; a central flowering repressor in Arabidopsis) and FLC relatives, and also redundantly repress flowering, the developmental transition from a vegetative to a reproductive phase that is critical in the plant life cycle. Moreover, we have found that Arabidopsis relatives of the yeast Bre1, including HISTONE MONOUBIQUITINATION 1 (HUB1) and HUB2, also upregulate the expression of FLC and FLC relatives, and that HUB1 genetically interacts with UBC1 and UBC2 to repress the floral transition. These findings are consistent with a model in which HUB1 and HUB2 specifically interact with and direct UBC1 and UBC2 to monoubiquitinate H2B in developmental genes, and thus regulate developmental processes in plants.

Establishment of the Winter-Annual Growth Habit via FRIGIDA-Mediated Histone Methylation at FLOWERING LOCUS C in Arabidopsis

In Arabidopsis thaliana, flowering-time variation exists among accessions, and the winter-annual (late-flowering without vernalization) versus rapid-cycling (early flowering) growth habit is typically determined by allelic variation at FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). FRI upregulates the expression of FLC, a central floral repressor, to levels that inhibit flowering, resulting in the winter-annual habit. Here, we show that FRI promotes histone H3 lysine-4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) in FLC to upregulate its expression. We identified an Arabidopsis homolog of the human WDR5, namely, WDR5a, which is a conserved core component of the human H3K4 methyltransferase complexes called COMPASS-like. We found that recombinant WDR5a binds H3K4-methylated peptides and that WDR5a also directly interacts with an H3K4 methyltransferase, ARABIDOPSIS TRITHORAX1. FRI mediates WDR5a enrichment at the FLC locus, leading to increased H3K4me3 and FLC upregulation. WDR5a enrichment is not required for elevated H3K4me3 in FLC upon loss of function of an FLC repressor, suggesting that two distinct mechanisms underlie elevated H3K4me3 in FLC. Our findings suggest that FRI is involved in the enrichment of a WDR5a-containing COMPASS-like complex at FLC chromatin that methylates H3K4, leading to FLC upregulation and thus the establishment of the winter-annual growth habit.

Arabidopsis FLC clade members form flowering-repressor complexes coordinating responses to endogenous and environmental cues

The developmental transition to flowering is timed by endogenous and environmental signals through multiple genetic pathways. In Arabidopsis, the MADS-domain protein FLOWERING LOCUS C is a potent flowering repressor. Here, we report that the FLOWERING LOCUS C clade member MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING3 acts redundantly with another clade member to directly repress expression of the florigen FLOWERING LOCUS T and inhibit flowering. FLOWERING LOCUS C clade members act in partial redundancy in floral repression and mediate flowering responses to temperature, in addition to their participation in the flowering-time regulation by vernalization and photoperiod. We show that FLOWERING LOCUS C, MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING3 and three other clade members can directly interact with each other and form nuclear complexes, and that FLOWERING LOCUS C-dependent floral repression requires other clade members. Our results collectively suggest that the FLOWERING LOCUS C clade members act as part of several MADS-domain complexes with partial redundancy, which integrate responses to endogenous and environmental cues to control flowering.

Arabidopsis COMPASS-Like Complexes Mediate Histone H3 Lysine-4 Trimethylation to Control Floral Transition and Plant Development

Histone H3 lysine-4 (H3K4) methylation is associated with transcribed genes in eukaryotes. In Drosophila and mammals, both di- and tri-methylation of H3K4 are associated with gene activation. In contrast to animals, in Arabidopsis H3K4 trimethylation, but not mono- or di-methylation of H3K4, has been implicated in transcriptional activation. H3K4 methylation is catalyzed by the H3K4 methyltransferase complexes known as COMPASS or COMPASS-like in yeast and mammals. Here, we report that Arabidopsis homologs of the COMPASS and COMPASS-like complex core components known as Ash2, RbBP5, and WDR5 in humans form a nuclear subcomplex during vegetative and reproductive development, which can associate with multiple putative H3K4 methyltransferases. Loss of function of ARABIDOPSIS Ash2 RELATIVE (ASH2R) causes a great decrease in genome-wide H3K4 trimethylation, but not in di- or mono-methylation. Knockdown of ASH2R or the RbBP5 homolog suppresses the expression of a crucial Arabidopsis floral repressor, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), and FLC homologs resulting in accelerated floral transition. ASH2R binds to the chromatin of FLC and FLC homologs in vivo and is required for H3K4 trimethylation, but not for H3K4 dimethylation in these loci; overexpression of ASH2R causes elevated H3K4 trimethylation, but not H3K4 dimethylation, in its target genes FLC and FLC homologs, resulting in activation of these gene expression and consequent late flowering. These results strongly suggest that H3K4 trimethylation in FLC and its homologs can activate their expression, providing concrete evidence that H3K4 trimethylation accumulation can activate eukaryotic gene expression. Furthermore, our findings suggest that there are multiple COMPASS-like complexes in Arabidopsis and that these complexes deposit trimethyl but not di- or mono-methyl H3K4 in target genes to promote their expression, providing a molecular explanation for the observed coupling of H3K4 trimethylation (but not H3K4 dimethylation) with active gene expression in Arabidopsis.

Arabidopsis Homologs of Retinoblastoma-Associated Protein 46/48 Associate with a Histone Deacetylase to Act Redundantly in Chromatin Silencing

RNA molecules such as small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and antisense RNAs (asRNAs) trigger chromatin silencing of target loci. In the model plant Arabidopsis, RNA–triggered chromatin silencing involves repressive histone modifications such as histone deacetylation, histone H3 lysine-9 methylation, and H3 lysine-27 monomethylation. Here, we report that two Arabidopsis homologs of the human histone-binding proteins Retinoblastoma-Associated Protein 46/48 (RbAp46/48), known as MSI4 (or FVE) and MSI5, function in partial redundancy in chromatin silencing of various loci targeted by siRNAs or asRNAs. We show that MSI5 acts in partial redundancy with FVE to silence FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), which is a crucial floral repressor subject to asRNA–mediated silencing, FLC homologs, and other loci including transposable and repetitive elements which are targets of siRNA–directed DNA Methylation (RdDM). Both FVE and MSI5 associate with HISTONE DEACETYLASE 6 (HDA6) to form complexes and directly interact with the target loci, leading to histone deacetylation and transcriptional silencing. In addition, these two genes function in de novo CHH (Hu200a=u200aA, T, or C) methylation and maintenance of symmetric cytosine methylation (mainly CHG methylation) at endogenous RdDM target loci, and they are also required for establishment of cytosine methylation in the previously unmethylated sequences directed by the RdDM pathway. This reveals an important functional divergence of the plant RbAp46/48 relatives from animal counterparts.

Photoperiodic Control of the Floral Transition through a Distinct Polycomb Repressive Complex

Polycomb group (PcG) complexes such as PRC1 mediate transcriptional repression. Here, we show that the plant-specific EMBRYONIC FLOWER1 (EMF1), LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1, and a histone H3 lysine-4 demethylase form a distinct PcG complex, termed EMF1c, that plays PRC1-like roles and is crucial for regulation of the florigen gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in Arabidopsis. Long-day photoperiods promote FT expression activation in leaf veins specifically at dusk through the photoperiod pathway to induce Arabidopsis flowering. We found that before dusk and at night, a vascular EMF1c directly represses FT expression to prevent photoperiod-independent flowering, whereas at dusk EMF1 binding to FT chromatin is disrupted by the photoperiod pathway, leading to proper FT activation. Furthermore, a MADS-domain transcription factor and potent floral repressor binds EMF1 to repress FT expression. Our study reveals that the vascular EMF1c integrates inputs from several flowering-regulatory pathways to synchronize flowering time to environmental cues.

N(6)-Methyladenosine RNA Modification Regulates Shoot Stem Cell Fate in Arabidopsis.

N(6)-Methyladenosine (m(6)A) represents the most prevalent internal modification on mRNA and requires a multicomponent m(6)A methyltransferase complex in mammals. How their plant counterparts determine the global m(6)A modification landscape and its molecular link to plant development remain unknown. Here we show that FKBP12 INTERACTING PROTEIN 37 KD (FIP37) is a core component of the m(6)A methyltransferase complex, which underlies control of shoot stem cell fate in Arabidopsis. The mutants lacking FIP37 exhibit massive overproliferation of shoot meristems and a transcriptome-wide loss of m(6)A RNA modifications. We further demonstrate that FIP37 mediates m(6)A RNA modification on key shoot meristem genes inversely correlated with their mRNA stability, thus confining their transcript levels to prevent shoot meristem overproliferation. Our results suggest an indispensable role of FIP37 in mediating m(6)A mRNA modification, which is required forxa0maintaining the shoot meristem as a renewable source for continuously producing all aerial organs in plants.

Photoperiodic Regulation of Flowering Time through Periodic Histone Deacetylation of the Florigen Gene FT

The seasonal cue day length regulates the timing of the floral transition in plants through periodic histone modifications of the FT gene, which encodes a flowering signal in plants. These modifications dampen FT expression at dusk to prevent precocious flowering.

A matrix protein silences transposons and repeats through interaction with retinoblastoma-associated proteins.

Epigenetic regulation helps to maintain genomic integrity by suppressing transposable elements (TEs) and also controls key developmental processes, such as flowering time. To prevent TEs from causing rearrangements and mutations, TE and TE-like repetitive DNA sequences are usually methylated, whereas histones are hypoacetylated and methylated on specific residues (e.g., H3 lysine 9 dimethylation [H3K9me2]). TEs and repeats can also attenuate gene expression. However, how various histone modifiers are recruited to target loci is not well understood. Here we show that knockdown of the nuclear matrix protein with AT-hook DNA binding motifs TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENT SILENCING VIA AT-HOOK (TEK) in Arabidopsis Landsberg erecta results in robust activation of various TEs, the TE-like repeat-containing floral repressor genes FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and FWA. This derepression is associated with chromatin conformational changes, increased histone acetylation, reduced H3K9me2, and even TE transposition. TEK directly binds to an FLC-repressive regulatory region and the silencing repeats of FWA and associates with Arabidopsis homologs of the Retinoblastoma-associated protein 46/48, FVE and MSI5, which mediate histone deacetylation. We propose that the nuclear matrix protein TEK acts in the maintenance of genome integrity by silencing TE and repeat-containing genes.

Embryonic epigenetic reprogramming by a pioneer transcription factor in plants

Epigenetic modifications, including chromatin modifications and DNA methylation, have a central role in the regulation of gene expression in plants and animals. The transmission of epigenetic marks is crucial for certain genes to retain cell lineage-specific expression patterns and maintain cell fate. However, the marks that have accumulated at regulatory loci during growth and development or in response to environmental stimuli need to be deleted in gametes or embryos, particularly in organisms such as plants that do not set aside a germ line, to ensure the proper development of offspring. In Arabidopsis thaliana, prolonged exposure to cold temperatures (winter cold), in a process known as vernalization, triggers the mitotically stable epigenetic silencing of the potent floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), and renders plants competent to flower in the spring; however, this silencing is reset during each generation. Here we show that the seed-specific transcription factor LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) promotes the initial establishment of an active chromatin state at FLC and activates its expression de novo in the pro-embryo, thus reversing the silenced state inherited from gametes. This active chromatin state is passed on from the pro-embryo to post-embryonic life, and leads to transmission of the embryonic memory of FLC activation to post-embryonic stages. Our findings reveal a mechanism for the reprogramming of embryonic chromatin states in plants, and provide insights into the epigenetic memory of embryonic active gene expression in post-embryonic phases, through which an embryonic factor acts to ‘control’ post-embryonic development processes that are distinct from embryogenesis in plants.