Vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana is mediated by the PHD finger protein VIN3.
In biennials and winter annuals, flowering is typically blocked in the first growing season. Exposure to the prolonged cold of winter, through a process called vernalization, is required to alleviate this block and permit flowering in the second growing season. In winter-annual types of Arabidopsis thaliana, a flowering repressor, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), is expressed at levels that inhibit flowering in the first growing season. Vernalization promotes flowering by causing a repression of FLC that is mitotically stable after return to warm growing conditions. Here we identify a gene with a function in the measurement of the duration of cold exposure and in the establishment of the vernalized state. We show that this silencing involves changes in the modification of histones in FLC chromatin.
Sung
Sibum
S
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 433 Babcock Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Amasino
Richard M
RM
D000107:Acetylation; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020868:Gene Silencing; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D013696:Temperature; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002843:Chromatin; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C418902:At5g10140 protein, Arabidopsis; D006657:Histones; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C480553:VIN3 protein, Arabidopsis