title: Methylation patterns of histone H3 Lys 4, Lys 9 and Lys 27 in transcriptionally active and inactive Arabidopsis genes and in atx1 mutants.
abstract: Covalent modifications of histone-tail amino acid residues communicate information via a specific 'histone code'. Here, we report histone H3-tail lysine methylation profiles of several Arabidopsis genes in correlation with their transcriptional activity and the input of the epigenetic factor ARABIDOPSIS HOMOLOG OF TRITHORAX (ATX1) at ATX1-regulated loci. By chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, we compared modification patterns of a constitutively expressed housekeeping gene, of a tissue-specific gene, and among genes that differed in degrees of transcriptional activity. Our results suggest that the di-methylated isoform of histone H3-lysine4 (m2K4/H3) provide a general mark for gene-related sequences distinguishing them from non-transcribed regions. Lys-4 (K4/H3), lys-9 (K9/H3) and lys-27 (K27/H3) nucleosome methylation patterns of plant genes may be gene-, tissue- or development-regulated. Absence of nucleosomes from the LTP-promotor was not sufficient to provoke robust transcription in mutant atx1-leaf chromatin, suggesting that the mechanism repositioning nucleosomes at transition to flowering functioned independently of ATX1.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, UNL, Lincoln, NE 68588-011, USA.
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Venegas
authors.forename: Zoya
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Avramova
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism; D008745:Methylation; D009154:Mutation; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D009707:Nucleosomes; D014157:Transcription Factors; C504056:At2g31650 protein, Arabidopsis; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase; D008239:Lysine