The histone methyltransferase SDG724 mediates H3K36me2/3 deposition at MADS50 and RFT1 and promotes flowering in rice.
Chromatin modifications affect flowering time in the long-day plant Arabidopsis thaliana, but the role of histone methylation in flowering time regulation of rice (Oryza sativa), a short-day plant, remains to be elucidated. We identified a late-flowering long vegetative phase1 (lvp1) mutant in rice and used map-based cloning to reveal that lvp1 affects the SET domain group protein 724 (SDG724). SDG724 functions as a histone methyltransferase in vitro and contributes to a major fraction of global histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) methylation in vivo. Expression analyses of flowering time genes in wild-type and lvp1 mutants revealed that Early heading date1, but not Heading date1, are misregulated in lvp1 mutants. In addition, the double mutant of lvp1 with photoperiod sensitivity5 (se5) flowered later than the se5 single mutant, indicating that lvp1 delays flowering time irrespective of photoperiod. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that lvp1 had reduced levels of H3K36me2/3 at MADS50 and RFT1. This suggests that the divergent functions of paralogs RFT1 and Hd3a, and of MADS50 and MADS51, are in part due to differential H3K36me2/3 deposition, which also correlates with higher expression levels of MADS50 and RFT1 in flowering promotion in rice.
State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Changhui
C
Sun
Jun
J
Fang
Taolan
T
Zhao
Bo
B
Xu
Fantao
F
Zhang
Linchuan
L
Liu
Jiuyou
J
Tang
Genfa
G
Zhang
Xiaojian
X
Deng
Fan
F
Chen
Qian
Q
Qian
Xiaofeng
X
Cao
Chengcai
C
Chu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D035264:Flowers / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D056426:Genetic Loci; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D000076983:Histone Methyltransferases; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017440:Photoperiod; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D006657:Histones; D010940:Plant Proteins; D000076983:Histone Methyltransferases; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase