Functional study of an Arabidopsis MBD-type reader
Plants must anticipate predictable environmental changes to secure reproductive success by integrating external cues with developmental programs. Precise regulation of flowering time is achieved through the tight transcriptional control of master regulators, fine-tuned by the dynamics of histone modifications and structural chromatin alterations. In our search for flowering-related gene networks, we identified METHYL-BINDING DOMAIN PROTEIN 4 (MBD4) as a crucial hub for high ambient temperature responses in plants. While previously described as a DNA methylation reader, our findings reveal that MBD4 recognises histone arginine methylation. MBD4 genome-wide distribution and coordinated expression with histone methylation writers match arginine methylation global patterns. Although histone lysine methylation is well understood, the role of arginine methylation remains largely unexplored. Our results demonstrate that MBD4 plays a critical role in the transcriptional control of flowering regulators in Arabidopsis by recognising arginine methylation and facilitating acetylation erasure. Additionally, we confirmed the significance of the Brassica napus MBD4 ortholog in modulating the reproductive phase switch through chromatin alterations at the BnaFLCA10 locus, suggesting that similar chromatin readers may influence important developmental traits in crops.
Plants must anticipate predictable environmental changes to secure reproductive success by integrating external cues with developmental programs. Precise regulation of flowering time is achieved through the tight transcriptional control of master regulators, fine-tuned by the dynamics of histone modifications and structural chromatin alterations. In our search for flowering-related gene networks, we identified METHYL-BINDING DOMAIN PROTEIN 4 (MBD4) as a crucial hub for high ambient temperature responses in plants. While previously described as a DNA methylation reader, our findings reveal that MBD4 recognises histone arginine methylation. MBD4 genome-wide distribution and coordinated expression with histone methylation writers match arginine methylation global patterns. Although histone lysine methylation is well understood, the role of arginine methylation remains largely unexplored. Our results demonstrate that MBD4 plays a critical role in the transcriptional control of flowering regulators in Arabidopsis by recognising arginine methylation and facilitating acetylation erasure. Additionally, we confirmed the significance of the Brassica napus MBD4 ortholog in modulating the reproductive phase switch through chromatin alterations at the BnaFLCA10 locus, suggesting that similar chromatin readers may influence important developmental traits in crops.
Mision Bioloxica de Galicia