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DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION

Involvement of the Histone Acetyltransferase AtHAC1 in the Regulation of Flowering Time via Repression of FLOWERING LOCUS C in Arabidopsis^1,[W],[OA]

State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and Center for Plant Gene Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100101 (W.D., C.L., Y.P., X.D., L.N., X.C.); Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100039 (W.D., L.N.); and College of Life Science and Technology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China 030006 (Y.P.)

Histone acetylation is an important posttranslational modification correlated with gene activation. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the histone acetyltransferase AtHAC1 is homologous to animal p300/CREB (cAMP-responsive element-binding protein)-binding proteins, which are the main histone acetyltransferases participating in many physiological processes, including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The functions of p300/CREB-binding proteins in animals are well characterized, whereas little is known about the roles of AtHAC1 in developmental control in Arabidopsis. Lesions in AtHAC1 caused pleiotropic developmental defects, including delayed flowering, a shortened primary root, and partially reduced fertility. Analysis of the molecular basis of late flowering in hac1 mutants showed that the hac1 plants respond normally to day length, gibberellic acid treatment, and vernalization. Furthermore, the expression level of the flowering repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) is increased in hac1 mutants, indicating that the late-flowering phenotype of hac1 mutants is mediated by FLC. Since histone acetylation is usually associated with the activation of gene expression, histone modifications of FLC chromatin are not affected by mutations in HAC1 and expression levels of all known autonomous pathway genes are unchanged in hac1 plants, we propose that HAC1 affects flowering time by epigenetic modification of factors upstream of FLC.

² These authors contributed equally to the paper.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: XiaoFeng Cao (xfcao{at}genetics.ac.cn).

^[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.107.095521

^* Corresponding author; e-mail xfcao{at}genetics.ac.cn; fax 86–10–64873428.

Received January 5, 2007; accepted January 31, 2007; published February 9, 2007.

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