title: A hit-and-run heat shock factor governs sustained histone methylation and transcriptional stress memory.
abstract: In nature, plants often encounter chronic or recurring stressful conditions. Recent results indicate that plants can remember a past exposure to stress to be better prepared for a future stress incident. However, the molecular basis of this is poorly understood. Here, we report the involvement of chromatin modifications in the maintenance of acquired thermotolerance (heat stress [HS] memory). HS memory is associated with the accumulation of histone H3 lysine 4 di- and trimethylation at memory-related loci. This accumulation outlasts their transcriptional activity and marks them as recently transcriptionally active. High accumulation of H3K4 methylation is associated with hyper-induction of gene expression upon a recurring HS. This transcriptional memory and the sustained accumulation of H3K4 methylation depend on HSFA2, a transcription factor that is required for HS memory, but not initial heat responses. Interestingly, HSFA2 associates with memory-related loci transiently during the early stages following HS. In summary, we show that transcriptional memory after HS is associated with sustained H3K4 hyper-methylation and depends on a hit-and-run transcription factor, thus providing a molecular framework for HS memory.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lämke
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brzezinka
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany isabel.baeurle@uni-potsdam.de.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bäurle
mesh_terms: D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D018869:Heat-Shock Response / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: H3K4 methylation; chromatin; heat shock transcription factor; priming; transcriptional memory