An epigenetic perspective on developmental regulation of seed genes.
The developmental program of seeds is promoted by master regulators that are expressed in a seed-specific manner. Ectopic expression studies reveal that expression of these master regulators and other transcriptional regulators is sufficient to promote seed-associated traits, including generation of somatic embryos. Recent work highlights the importance of chromatin-associated factors in restricting expression of seed-specific genes, in particular PcG proteins and ATP-dependent remodelers. This review summarizes what is known regarding factors that promote zygotic and/or somatic embryogenesis and the chromatin machinery that represses their expression. Characterization of the regulation of seed-specific genes reveals that plant chromatin-based repression systems exhibit broad conservation with and surprising differences from animal repression systems.
Zhang
Heng
H
Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2063, USA.
Ogas
Joe
J
Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2063, USA. Electronic address: ogas@purdue.edu.
D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics*
D002843:Chromatin