title: A distal CCAAT/NUCLEAR FACTOR Y complex promotes chromatin looping at the FLOWERING LOCUS T promoter and regulates the timing of flowering in Arabidopsis.
abstract: For many plant species, reproductive success relies on the proper timing of flowering, and photoperiod provides a key environmental input. Photoperiod-dependent flowering depends on timely expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT); however, the coordination of various cis-regulatory elements in the FT promoter is not well understood. Here, we provide evidence that long-distance chromatin loops bring distal enhancer elements into close association with the proximal promoter elements bound by CONSTANS (CO). Additionally, we show that NUCLEAR FACTOR Y (NF-Y) binds a CCAAT box in the distal enhancer element and that CCAAT disruption dramatically reduces FT promoter activity. Thus, we propose the recruitment model of photoperiod-dependent flowering where NF-Y complexes, bound at the FT distal enhancer element, help recruit CO to proximal cis-regulatory elements and initiate the transition to reproductive growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019.
authors.forename: Shuanghe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Roderick W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kumimoto
authors.forename: Nerina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gnesutta
authors.forename: Alessandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Calogero
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: Ben F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Holt
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D002843:Chromatin; C418905:FT protein, Arabidopsis; C402244:nuclear factor Y