title: A DNA element that remembers winter.
abstract: Polycomb-mediated silencing of the floral repressor gene FLC in response to long-term cold is a central event during vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana, but how it is initiated is unclear. Two new studies identify a DNA element that mediates FLC silencing by attracting a pair of transcriptional repressors, VAL1 and VAL2, which in turn trigger epigenetic silencing by the Polycomb complex PHD-PRC2.
authors.affiliation: London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Chenlong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Yuhai
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3675-3288
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020868:Gene Silencing; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D004247:DNA