title: Control and consequences of chromatin compaction during seed maturation in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Nuclei in dry Arabidopsis thaliana seeds are very small and have highly condensed chromatin. Nuclear shrinkage and chromatin compaction occur during seed maturation and have been shown to be independent, developmentally controlled processes. To confirm this genetically, we studied chromatin compaction in a mutant of the seed developmental regulator ABA INSENSITIVE 3, and in a double mutant of the nuclear matrix proteins LITTLE NUCLEI 1 and 2. Our results indicated that the nuclear shrinking and chromatin condensation during seed maturation can be genetically uncoupled, confirming that these are independent processes. In addition, we demonstrated that transcript levels of siliques toward the end of seed maturation are comparable to those in vegetative tissues, despite the highly compacted chromatin, small nuclear volume and low hydration status of seeds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Martijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Zanten
authors.forename: Annaick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carles
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wim J J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Soppe
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C525566:At1g13220 protein, Arabidopsis; C525565:At1g67230 protein, Arabidopsis; D002843:Chromatin; D009687:Nuclear Proteins