Epigenetic regulation of peanut allergen gene Ara h 3 in developing embryos.
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) allergy is one of the most serious food allergies. Peanut seed protein, Ara h 3, is considered to be one of the most important peanut allergens. Little is known about the temporal and spatial regulation mechanism of Ara h 3 during seed development. In this study, chromatin structure of the Ara h 3 promoter was analyzed to examine its transcriptional regulation. Analysis of transgenic plants of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing Arah3: GUS showed that the Ara h 3 promoter could efficiently direct the seed-specific expression of the GUS reporter gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that nucleosomes were depleted at the core promoter of the Ara h 3 upon full activation in the late stage of embryo maturation, which was accompanied by a dramatic decrease of histone acetylation. However, in the early stage of embryo maturation, histone H3 hyperacetylation at the core promoter of Ara h 3 was detected. A decrease of histone H3-K9 dimethylation levels at core promoter of Ara h 3 was also observed with concomitant repression of Ara h 3 in the vegetative tissues. Our results suggest that the histone modification status of Ara h 3 undergoes targeted changes including the increase of histone H3 acetylation and decrease of histone H3-K9 dimethylation in early maturation embryos. In addition, the loss of histone H3 from the proximal promoter of Ara h 3 is associated with its high expression during late embryo maturation.
Fu
Guohua
G
School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Zhong
Yujuan
Y
Li
Chenlong
C
Li
Yin
Y
Lin
Xiaodong
X
Liao
Bin
B
Tsang
Edward W T
EW
Wu
Keqiang
K
Huang
Shangzhi
S
D000107:Acetylation; D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010367:Arachis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000378:metabolism; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008745:Methylation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics*
D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C549941:Ara h 3 allergen, Arachis hypogea; D006657:Histones; D010940:Plant Proteins; D005966:Glucuronidase