Recent discoveries have shown that epigenetic regulation is an integral part of phytohormone-mediated processes. The phytohormone gibberellin (GA) triggers a series of events in cereal aleurone cells that lead to programmed cell death (PCD), but the signaling cascade mediating GA-induced PCD in cereal aleurone layers remains largely unknown. Here, we showed that histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity gradually increased relative to histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity, leading to a global decrease in histone H3 and H4 acetylation levels during PCD of maize (Zea mays) embryoless aleurone layers after 3 d of treatment with GA. HDAC inhibition prevented GA-induced PCD in embryoless aleurone cells, whereas HAT inhibition resulted in PCD even in the absence of GA. Hydrogen peroxide concentrations increased in GA- or HAT inhibitor-treated aleurone cells due to reduced levels of reactive oxygen species scavengers. Hydrogen peroxide-treated aleurone cells showed no changes in the activity or expression of HATs and HDACs. We show that it is possible to predict whether epigenetic modification enzymes serve as a regulator of the GA-triggered PCD signaling pathway in maize aleurone layers. Taken together, these findings reveal that HDAC activity is required for GA-induced PCD in maize aleurone layers and regulates PCD via the reactive oxygen species-mediated signal transduction pathway.
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