Polycomb Group (PcG)蛋白能形成Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1)和PRC2等复合体, 通过一个保守且表观遗传的机制调节基因表达并控制动植物的发育。拟南芥中由VERNALIZATION2参与形成的PRC2复合体(VRN2-PRC2)在春化过程中能对主要开花抑制基因FLOWER LOCUS C(FLC)的染色质进行组蛋白甲基化修饰, 形成H3K27me3(组蛋白H3第27位赖氨酸三甲基化)等转录抑制标记, 从而抑制FLC转录, 促进开花。虽然麦类作物的春化机理与拟南芥有较大差异, 但最近的研究表明麦类作物春化过程也受PcG蛋白调控。文章对拟南芥PcG蛋白介导的春化调节机制进行综述, 期望能对植物尤其是麦类作物的春化机理研究提供资料。

The polycomb group (PcG) proteins repress transcription of the target genes and control development by chromatin modification in plants and animals. During vernalization, the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2, containing VERNALIZATION 2 (VRN2), CLF/SWN, FIE, and MSI1, can trimethylate the lysine 27 of histone H3 in the chromtin loci of FLOWER LOCUS C (FLC), the main flowering repressor in Arabidopsis. Therefore, the transcription of FLC is repressed during vernalization and the plant was induced to flowering. Here, we review the machanism of flowering regulation mediated by PcG proteins, which is expected to be valuable to research in vernalization mechanism in cereal.