Global warming has profound effects on plant growth and fitness. Plants have evolved sophisticated epigenetic machinery to respond quickly to heat, and exhibit transgenerational memory of the heat-induced release of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS). However, how thermomemory is transmitted to progeny and the physiological relevance are elusive. Here we show that heat-induced HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2 (HSFA2) directly activates the H3K27me3 demethylase RELATIVE OF EARLY FLOWERING 6 (REF6), which in turn derepresses HSFA2. REF6 and HSFA2 establish a heritable feedback loop, and activate an E3 ubiquitin ligase, SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING 3 (SGS3)-INTERACTING PROTEIN 1 (SGIP1). SGIP1-mediated SGS3 degradation leads to inhibited biosynthesis of trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA). The REF6-HSFA2 loop and reduced tasiRNA converge to release HEAT-INDUCED TAS1 TARGET 5 (HTT5), which drives early flowering but attenuates immunity. Thus, heat induces transmitted phenotypes via a coordinated epigenetic network involving histone demethylases, transcription factors, and tasiRNAs, ensuring reproductive success and transgenerational stress adaptation.
1.Chinese Acad Sci, Shanghai Inst Biol Sci, Shanghai Inst Plant Physiol & Ecol, Natl Key Lab Plant Mol Genet CAS Ctr Excellence M, Shanghai 200032, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Shanghai Tech Univ, Sch Life Sci & Technol, Shanghai 201210, Peoples R China 4.Chinese Acad Sci, State Key Lab Plant Genom, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 5.Chinese Acad Sci, Natl Ctr Plant Gene Res Beijing, Inst Genet & Dev Biol, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 6.Chinese Acad Sci, Shanghai Ctr Plant Stress Biol, Shanghai 201602, Peoples R China 7.Univ Potsdam, Inst Biochem & Biol, Potsdam, Germany 8.Univ Michigan, Dept Mol Cellular & Dev Biol, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA 9.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Genet & Dev Biol, CAS Ctr Excellence Mol Plant Sci, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation:
Liu, Junzhong,Feng, Lili,Gu, Xueting,et al. An H3K27me3 demethylase-HSFA2 regulatory loop orchestrates transgenerational thermomemory in Arabidopsis[J]. CELL RESEARCH,2019-01-01,29(5):379-390