Stress-induced activation of heterochromatic transcription

Article Article scientifique Article Stress-induced activation of heterochromatic transcription eng 2010 author Tittel-Elmer Mireille 523052 author Bucher Etienne 651582 author Broger Larissa 95643 author Mathieu Olivier Franck 602761 author Paszkowski Jerzy 134849 author Vaillant Isabelle 650125 e1001175 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001175 21060865 1553-7390 http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1001175 Constitutive heterochromatin comprising the centromeric and telomeric parts of chromosomes includes DNA marked by high levels of methylation associated with histones modified by repressive marks. These epigenetic modifications silence transcription and ensure stable inheritance of this inert state. Although environmental cues can alter epigenetic marks and lead to modulation of the transcription of genes located in euchromatic parts of the chromosomes, there is no evidence that external stimuli can globally destabilize silencing of constitutive heterochromatin. We have found that heterochromatin-associated silencing in Arabidopsis plants subjected to a particular temperature regime is released in a genome-wide manner. This occurs without alteration of repressive epigenetic modifications and does not involve common epigenetic mechanisms. Such induced release of silencing is mostly transient, and rapid restoration of the silent state occurs without the involvement of factors known to be required for silencing initiation. Thus, our results reveal new regulatory aspects of transcriptional repression in constitutive heterochromatin and open up possibilities to identify the molecular mechanisms involved. Arabidopsis/genetics/growth & development Cold Temperature Gene Expression Profiling Glucuronidase/genetics/metabolism Heterochromatin/genetics Histones/metabolism Lysine/metabolism Methylation/drug effects Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis Plants, Genetically Modified Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction Seedling/genetics/growth & development Sodium Chloride/pharmacology Stress, Physiological Temperature Time Factors Transcription, Genetic/genetics Transcriptional Activation/drug effects Dewey 580 45 Département des sciences végétales 163 false PLOS genetics 6 10 b7cb65d6-8841-4104-aedb-ceddc10d4db2 Article (Published version) Public Tittel-Elmer_PLoSGenet_2010.pdf 4717406 application/pdf openAccess Faculté des sciences / Section de biologie / Département des sciences végétales

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Stress-induced activation of heterochromatic transcription	PLOS genetics			2010	662	475

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Mathieu, Olivier Franck