[Progress on identification and analysis of DNase I hypersensitive sites in plant genomes]

Eukaryotes's gene expression and regulation relies on the interaction of their cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors. The cis-elements are specific DNA sequences in the genome and frequently located in the untranslated regions. The trans-acting factors are usually considered to be proteins that bind to the cis-acting sequences to regulate gene expression. It is well known that the cis-elements are always associated with DNase I hypersensitive site, which is a signature of open chromatin. The identification of all the functional cis-element using high-throughput method in plant genome has not been initiated in plant genomes. With the rapid achievement of genomics studies, an increasing number of plant genomes have been sequenced. Genome-wide identification of DNase I hypersensitive sites will be a considerably efficient method to locate cis-element in plants, which will provide a vital potential for further plant functional genomics. The present review is to reveal the recent progresses on identification and analysis of DNase I hypersensitive site in plant genomes.