title: Chromatin reprogramming during the somatic-to-reproductive cell fate transition in plants.
abstract: The life cycle of flowering plants is marked by several post-embryonic developmental transitions during which novel cell fates are established. Notably, the reproductive lineages are first formed during flower development. The differentiation of spore mother cells, which are destined for meiosis, marks the somatic-to-reproductive fate transition. Meiosis entails the formation of the haploid multicellular gametophytes, from which the gametes are derived, and during which epigenetic reprogramming takes place. Here we show that in the Arabidopsis female megaspore mother cell (MMC), cell fate transition is accompanied by large-scale chromatin reprogramming that is likely to establish an epigenetic and transcriptional status distinct from that of the surrounding somatic niche. Reprogramming is characterized by chromatin decondensation, reduction in heterochromatin, depletion of linker histones, changes in core histone variants and in histone modification landscapes. From the analysis of mutants in which the gametophyte fate is either expressed ectopically or compromised, we infer that chromatin reprogramming in the MMC is likely to contribute to establishing postmeiotic competence to the development of the pluripotent gametophyte. Thus, as in primordial germ cells of animals, the somatic-to-reproductive cell fate transition in plants entails large-scale epigenetic reprogramming.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology and Zürich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: She
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grimanelli
authors.forename: Kinga
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rutowicz
authors.forename: Marek W J
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puzio
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kotlinski
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jerzmanowski
authors.forename: Célia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baroux
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics*; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones
keywords: Arabidopsis; Chromatin modifications; Heterochromatin; Histone variants; Megaspore mother cell; Plant reproduction