FRIGIDA establishes a local chromosomal environment for FLOWERING LOCUS C mRNA production

Nat Plants. 2018 Oct;4(10):836-846. doi: 10.1038/s41477-018-0250-6. Epub 2018 Sep 17.

Abstract

FRIGIDA (FRI) upregulates the expression of the potent floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) to confer the winter-annual growth habit in Arabidopsis thaliana: accelerated transition to flowering after prolonged cold exposure (vernalization). Here, we show that FRI, histone acetyltransferases, the histone methyltransferase COMPASS-like and other chromatin modifiers are part of a FRI-containing supercomplex enriched in a region around the FLC transcription start site (TSS) to promote its expression. Several FRI partners are also enriched in a 3' region flanking FLC and, together with FRI, they function to increase the frequency of physical association of the region around TSS with the 3' region and promote the expression of both sense FLC and antisense non-coding RNAs. Our results show that the FRI supercomplex establishes a local chromosomal environment at FLC with active chromatin modifications and topology to promote transcriptional activation, fast elongation and efficient pre-messenger RNA splicing, leading to a high-level production of FLC mRNAs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Chromatin / metabolism
  • Chromosomes, Plant / metabolism*
  • Flowers / growth & development
  • Flowers / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Histone Acetyltransferases / metabolism
  • MADS Domain Proteins / metabolism*
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes / metabolism
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Chromatin
  • FLF protein, Arabidopsis
  • FRI protein, Arabidopsis
  • MADS Domain Proteins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • HAM1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • HAM2 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Histone Acetyltransferases
  • UBC1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes