[an error occurred while processing this directive]
en

Epigenetics of plant vernalization regulated by non-coding RNAs

Expand
  • State Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biologi-cal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China

Received date: 2011-12-13

  Revised date: 2012-02-02

  Online published: 2012-07-25

Abstract

Many higher plants must experience a period of winter cold to accomplish the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. This biological process is called vernalization. Some crops such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) produce seeds as edible organs, and therefore special measures of rotation and cultivation are necessary for plants to go through an early vernalization for flower differentiation and development, whereas the other crops such as Chinese cabbage (B rapa ssp. pekinenesis) and cabbage (Brassica napus L.) produce leafy heads as edible organs, and additional practice should be taken to avoid vernalization for a prolonged and fully vegetative growth. Before vernalization, flowering is repressed by the action of a gene called Flowering Locus C (FLC). This paper reviewed the function of non-coding RNAs and some proteins including VRN1, VRN2, and VIN3 in epigenetic regulation of FLC during vernalization.

Cite this article

ZHANG Shao-Feng, LI Xiao-Rong, SUN Chuan-Bao, HE Yu-Ke . Epigenetics of plant vernalization regulated by non-coding RNAs[J]. Hereditas(Beijing), 2012 , 34(7) : 829 -834 . DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2012.00829

References

[1] Swiezewski S, Crevillen P, Liu F, Ecker JR, Jerzmanowski A, Dean C. Small RNA-mediated chromatin silencing directed to the 3′ region of the Arabidopsis gene encoding the developmental regulator, FLC. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2007, 104(9): 3633-3638.
[2] Groszmann M, Greaves IK, Albert N, Fujimoto R, Helli-well CA, Dennis ES, Peacock WJ. Epigenetics in plants-vernalization and hybrid. Biochim Biophys Acta, 2011, 1809(8): 427-437.
[3] Kole C, Quijada P, Michaels SD, Amasino RM, Osborn TC. Evidence for homology of flowering-time genes VFR2 from Brassica rapa and FLC from Arabidopsis thaliana. Theor Appl Genet, 2001, 102(2-3): 425-430.
[4] Schranz ME, Quijada P, Sung S,B, Lukens L, Amasino R, Osborn TC. Characterization and effects of the replicated flowering time gene FLC in Brassica rapa. Genetics, 2002, 162(3): 1457-1468.
[5] Kim SY, Michaels SD. SUPPRESSOR OF FRI 4 encodes a nuclear-localized protein that is required for delayed flowering in winter-annual Arabidopsis. Development, 2006, 133(23): 4699-4707.
[6] Yang TJ, Kim JS, Kwon SJ, Lim KB, Choi BS, Kim JA, Jin M, Park JY, Lim MH, Kim HI, Lim YP, Kang JJ, Hong JH, Kim CB, Bhak J, Bancroft I, Park BS. Sequence-level analysis of the diploidization process in the triplicated FLOWERING LOCUS C region of Brassica rapa. Plant Cell, 2006, 18(6): 1339-1347.
[7] Lin SI, Wang JG, Poon SY, Su CL, Wang SS, Chiou TJ. Differential regulation of FLOWERING LOCUS C expression by vernalization in cabbage and Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol, 2005, 137(3): 1037-1048.
[8] Kim SY, Park BS, Kwon SJ, Kim J, Lim MH, Park YD, Kim DY, Suh SC, Jin YM, Ahn JH, Lee YH. Delayed flowering time in Arabidopsis and Brassica rapa by the overexpression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) homologs isolated from Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis). Plant Cell Rep, 2007, 26(3): 327-336.
[9] Bastow R, Mylne JS, Lister C, Lippman Z, Martienssen RA, Dean C. Vernalization requires epigenetic silencing of FLC by histone methylation. Nature, 2004, 427(6970): 164-167.
[10] Sung S, He Y, Eshoo TW, Tamada Y, Johnson L, Nakahigashi K, Goto K, Jacobsen SE, Amasino RM. Epigenetic maintenance of the vernalized state in Arabidopsis thaliana requires LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN 1. Nat Genet, 2006, 38(6): 706-710.
[11] Swiezewski S, Liu F, Magusin A, Dean C. Cold-induced silencing by long antisense transcripts of an Arabidopsis Polycomb target. Nature, 2009, 462(10): 799-802.
[12] Heo JB, Sung S. Vernalization-mediated epigenetic silencing by a long intronic noncoding RNA. Science, 2011, 331(6013): 76-79.
[13] Turck F, Coupland G. When vernalization makes sense. Science, 2011, 331(6013): 36-37.
[14] Rank G, Prestel M, Paro R. Transcription through intergenic chromosomal memory elements of the Drosophila bithorax complex correlates with an epigenetic switch. Mol Cell Biol, 2002, 22(22): 8026-8034.
[15] Schmitt S Prestel M, Paro R. Intergenic transcription through a polycomb group response element counteracts silencing. Genes Dev, 2005, 19(6): 697-708.
[16] Lavorgna G, Dahary D, Lehner B, Sorek R, Sanderson CM, Casari G. In search of antisense. Trends Biochem Sci, 2004, 29(2): 88-94.
[17] Zhang SL, Yeromin AV, Zhang XH, Yu Y, Safrina O, Penna A, Roos J, Stauderman KA, Cahalan MD. Genome-wide RNAi screen of Ca2+ influx identifies genes that regulate Ca(2+) release-activated Ca2+ channel activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2006, 103(24): 9357-9362.
[18] Yelin R, Dahary D, Sorek R, Levanon EY, Goldstein O, Shoshan A, Diber A, Biton S, Tamir Y, Khosravi R, Nemzer S, Pinner E, Walach S, Bernstein J, Savitsky K, Rotman G. Widespread occurrence of antisense transcription in the human genome. Nat Biotechnol<
Outlines

/