HDA18 affects cell fate in Arabidopsis root epidermis via histone acetylation at four kinase genes.
The differentiation of hair (H) and non-hair (N) cells in the Arabidopsis thaliana root epidermis is dependent on positional relationships with underlying cortical cells. We previously found that histone acetylation relays positional information and that a mutant altered in the histone deacetylase gene family member HISTONE DEACETYLASE 18 (HDA18) exhibits altered H and N epidermal cell patterning. Here, we report that HDA18 has in vitro histone deacetylase activity and that both mutation and overexpression of HDA18 led to cells at the N position having H fate. The HDA18 protein physically interacted with histones related to a specific group of kinase genes, which are demonstrated in this study to be components of a positional information relay system. Both down- and upregulation of HDA18 increased transcription of the targeted kinase genes. Interestingly, the acetylation levels of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9), histone 3 lysine 14 (H3K14) and histone 3 lysine 18 (H3K18) at the kinase genes were differentially affected by down- or upregulation of HDA18, which explains why the transcription levels of the four HDA18-target kinase genes increased in all lines with altered HDA18 expression. Our results reveal the surprisingly complex mechanism by which HDA18 affects cellular patterning in Arabidopsis root epidermis.
Peking University-Yale Joint Research Center of Agricultural and Plant Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Cui
C
Liu
Lin-Chen
LC
Li
Wen-Qian
WQ
Chen
Xian
X
Chen
Zhi-Hong
ZH
Xu
Shu-Nong
SN
Bai
D000107:Acetylation; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D015536:Down-Regulation; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D015854:Up-Regulation
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C583975:HDA18 protein, Arabidopsis; D006657:Histones; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D006655:Histone Deacetylases