GSE162637
Dimorphic H3K27 methylation guides germline or vegetative cell fate dichotomy in male gametophytes [CUT&Tag]
During angiosperm male gametogenesis, microspores divide to produce a vegetative cell (VC) and a male germline (MG), each with a distinct cell fate. How the MG cell/VC fate is determined remains largely unknown. Here, we report that the VC-targeted H3K27me3 erasure resulted in VC fate transition towards a gamete destination. Multi-omics and cytologic analysis reveal that H3K27me3 is essential for VC fate commitment and contributes to suppress the MG cell fate initiation in VC, whereas MG cells require H3K27me3 reprograming for the gamete cell fate. This work suggests that the MG cell/VC fate is epigenetically regulated. The dimorphic H3K27 methylation acts as a core switch to determine their distinct cell fates and ensure the functional specification of both VC and MG for pollen fertility. This work also provides direct evidences for the proposal that VC maintains the default developmental program of microspore, whereas MG requires reprogramming. Overall design: Examination of H3K27me3 modification (CUT&Tag), chromatin accessibility (ATAC-seq) and transcriptome (RNA-seq). This dataset includes the CUT&Tag data.