GSE104665
Chromatin remodeler SPLAYED maintains the balance of miR156 dependent developmental pathways in Arabidopsis
In plants, micro RNAs and chromatin remodeling are both known to regulate plant development and reproduction, however evidences for molecular links between these pathways have remained sparse. The antagonistic activities of miR156 and its target mRNAs, encoding several SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) transcription factors, control the juvenile-to-adult and vegetative-to-reproductive developmental phase transitions. In recent years a number of proteins were shown to act in the transcriptional control of MIR156 genes, demonstrating the complexity of the regulatory network involved in this process. Spatiotemporal control of gene expression involves interactions between transcription factors and changes in the chromatin structure. SPLAYED (SYD) is a well-characterized SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase, which has been shown to be an important regulator of flowering time, flower organ identity and homeotic gene expression. In this study, we investigated the interaction between the miR156 and SYD pathways and provide evidence that SYD directly influences the transcription of several MIR156 and SPL genes in Arabidopsis. We propose that SYD maintains the balance between the miR156-dependent and miR156-independent developmental pathways. More generally, we then show that SYD may also play a very broad role in the control of gene expression by associating to most genes in Arabidopsis. We show that binding to these genes is dependent on the meristem identity factor LEAFY and the PRC2 component SWINGER. These results uncover a much more general role for SYD in regulating and balancing key developmental processes in Arabidopsis than previously assumed. Overall design: chromatin immunoprecipitation of the SYD chromatin remodeler using a native antibody in Arabidopsis flowers