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No Winter Lasts Forever: Polycomb Complexes Convert Epigenetic Memory of Cold into Flowering
Jafar Sharif1, Haruhiko Koseki1
1Developmental Genetics Group, Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS), RIKEN, 1-7-22 Suehiuro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 230-0045, Japan.
Developmental Cell
|September 27, 2017
Summary
Prolonged cold exposure triggers flowering through an epigenetic mechanism involving polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2). This process, essential for plant reproduction, is biphasic and linked to DNA replication.
Area of Science:
- Plant biology
- Epigenetics
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Flowering is a critical process in plant life cycles.
- Environmental cues, such as cold, regulate flowering time.
- Epigenetic mechanisms play a role in mediating environmental responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the epigenetic mechanism controlling flowering after prolonged cold.
- To investigate the role of polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2) in cold-induced flowering.
- To understand the relationship between DNA replication and flowering induction.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of gene expression patterns related to flowering and PRC2.
- Epigenetic assays to study DNA modification and chromatin structure.
- Investigating the link between DNA replication timing and flowering induction.
Main Results:
- Identified a biphasic epigenetic repression mediated by PRC2.
- Demonstrated that PRC2 activity is crucial for inducing flowering after cold exposure.
- Established a strong correlation between DNA replication and the flowering induction process.
Conclusions:
- PRC2-mediated epigenetic silencing is a key mechanism for cold-induced flowering.
- The biphasic nature of this repression, involving nucleation and propagation, is essential.
- DNA replication is intrinsically linked to this epigenetic control of flowering.
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