title: Combinatorial control of plant gene expression.
abstract: Combinatorial gene regulation provides a mechanism by which relatively small numbers of transcription factors can control the expression of a much larger number of genes with finely tuned temporal and spatial patterns. This is achieved by transcription factors assembling into complexes in a combinatorial fashion, exponentially increasing the number of genes that they can target. Such an arrangement also increases the specificity and affinity for the cis-regulatory sequences required for accurate target gene expression. Superimposed on this transcription factor combinatorial arrangement is the increasing realization that histone modification marks expand the regulatory information, which is interpreted by histone readers and writers that are part of the regulatory apparatus. Here, we review the progress in these areas from the perspective of plant combinatorial gene regulation, providing examples of different regulatory solutions and comparing them to other metazoans. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant Gene Regulatory Mechanisms and Networks, edited by Dr. Erich Grotewold and Dr. Nathan Springer.
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS),The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brkljacic
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS),The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: grotewold.1@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grotewold
mesh_terms: D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Histone mark; MYB; Protein-protein interactions; Transcription factor; bHLH; cis-regulatory element