Arabidopsis BREVIPEDICELLUS interacts with the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase BRAHMA to regulate KNAT2 and KNAT6 expression in control of inflorescence architecture

Minglei Zhao; Songguang Yang; Chia-Yang Chen; Chenlong Li; Wei Shan; Wangjin Lu; Yuhai Cui; Xuncheng Liu; Keqiang Wu

doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005125

Arabidopsis BREVIPEDICELLUS interacts with the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase BRAHMA to regulate KNAT2 and KNAT6 expression in control of inflorescence architecture

PLoS Genet. 2015 Mar 30;11(3):e1005125. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005125. eCollection 2015 Mar.

Authors

Minglei Zhao¹, Songguang Yang², Chia-Yang Chen³, Chenlong Li⁴, Wei Shan⁵, Wangjin Lu⁵, Yuhai Cui⁴, Xuncheng Liu², Keqiang Wu³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
³ Institute of Plant Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ontario, Canada; Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources/ Guangdong Key Laboratory for Postharvest Science, College of Horticultural Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP or KNAT1), a class-I KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factor in Arabidopsis thaliana, contributes to shaping the normal inflorescence architecture through negatively regulating other two class-I KNOX genes, KNAT2 and KNAT6. However, the molecular mechanism of BP-mediated transcription regulation remains unclear. In this study, we showed that BP directly interacts with the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase BRAHMA (BRM) both in vitro and in vivo. Loss-of-function BRM mutants displayed inflorescence architecture defects, with clustered inflorescences, horizontally orientated pedicels, and short pedicels and internodes, a phenotype similar to the bp mutants. Furthermore, the transcript levels of KNAT2 and KNAT6 were elevated in brm-3, bp-9 and brm-3 bp-9 double mutants. Increased histone H3 lysine 4 tri-methylation (H3K4me3) levels were detected in brm-3, bp-9 and brm-3 bp-9 double mutants. Moreover, BRM and BP co-target to KNAT2 and KNAT6 genes, and BP is required for the binding of BRM to KNAT2 and KNAT6. Taken together, our results indicate that BP interacts with the chromatin remodeling factor BRM to regulate the expression of KNAT2 and KNAT6 in control of inflorescence architecture.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adenosine Triphosphatases / genetics*
Adenosine Triphosphatases / metabolism
Arabidopsis / genetics
Arabidopsis / metabolism
Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
Chromatin / metabolism
Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly / genetics
Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / genetics
Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Histones / genetics
Homeodomain Proteins / genetics*
Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
Inflorescence / genetics
Mutation
Transcription Factors / genetics*
Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

Arabidopsis Proteins
Chromatin
Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
Histones
Homeodomain Proteins
KNAT1 protein, Arabidopsis
KNAT2 protein, Arabidopsis
KNAT6 protein, Arabidopsis
SWI-SNF-B chromatin-remodeling complex
Transcription Factors
Adenosine Triphosphatases
BRM protein, Arabidopsis

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (973 program No. 2012CB910900), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31301056, No. 31201106 and No. 31371308). This work was also supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (101-2923-B-002-005-MY3, 101-2311-B-002-012-MY3 and 102-2321-B-002-039-) and National Taiwan University (103R892005).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.