Epigenetic inheritance of expression states in plant development: the role of Polycomb group proteins.
Polycomb group (PcG) proteins maintain a repressed state of gene expression over many cell divisions. The recent characterisation of several PcG proteins from plants revealed a remarkable structural and functional conservation of PcG proteins between different kingdoms. In both plants and animals, homeotic genes are among the target genes of PcG complexes, although the structure of these genes is not conserved. However, not all PcG proteins identified in animals are present in plants. Furthermore it becomes clear that PcG-mediated repression in plants is more transient compared with the long-lasting effects in animals. This may be related to the absence of PcG proteins thought to be involved in long-term maintenance of PcG repression, suggesting that the mechanisms underlying PcG-mediated repression differ between plants and animals.
Köhler
Claudia
C
Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008, Zürich, Switzerland. ckoehler@botinst.unizh.ch
Grossniklaus
Ueli
U
D000818:Animals; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D013045:Species Specificity
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C104597:CURLY LEAF protein, Arabidopsis; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins