Polycomb silencing of KNOX genes confines shoot stem cell niches in Arabidopsis.

Most plant organs develop postembryonically from stem cells in the shoot and root meristems. In Arabidopsis, Class I KNOTTED-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factors are specifically expressed in shoot meristems and play a primary role in the maintenance of meristem function. Although suppression of KNOX was shown to associate with histone ...
H3K27-methylation, the molecular mechanism underlying this suppression is not well understood. Here, we provide genetic, molecular, and functional evidence that an Arabidopsis POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX1 (PRC1)-like complex acts in conjunction with PRC2 in KNOX suppression. We identified AtRING1a and AtRING1b as homologs of the animal PRC1 core component RING1. Loss-of-function mutant Atring1a(-/-)Atring1b(-/-) shows release of KNOX suppression and ectopic-meristem formation. AtRING1a and AtRING1b proteins are localized in the nucleus. AtRING1a binds to itself and to AtRING1b, to CURLY LEAF (CLF), a PRC2 core component catalyzing H3K27-methylation, and to LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1 (LHP1), a chromodomain protein binding trimethyl-H3K27. We further show that clf(-/-) and lhp1(-/-) enhance Atring1a(-/-)Atring1b(-/-) in release of KNOX suppression and mutant phenotypes. We propose a model in which AtRING1a, AtRING1b, and LHP1 form a PRC1-like complex, which binds trimethyl-H3K27 marked by the CLF-containing PRC2, resulting in transcriptional suppression of KNOX.
Mesh Terms:
Arabidopsis, Arabidopsis Proteins, Gene Silencing, Genes, Homeobox, Genes, Plant, Histones, Meristem, Models, Biological, Models, Genetic, Multigene Family, Mutation, Phenotype, Plant Shoots, Repressor Proteins, Stem Cells
Curr. Biol.
Date: Dec. 23, 2008
Download Curated Data For This Publication
85170
Switch View:
  • Interactions 4