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DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION

The Arabidopsis BRAHMA Chromatin-Remodeling ATPase Is Involved in Repression of Seed Maturation Genes in Leaves^1,[W],[OA]

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, London, Ontario, Canada N5V 4T3 (X.T., A.H., M.B., V.N., Q.L., A.W., Y.C.); Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council of Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 0W9 (X.T., W.A.K., E.W.T.T.); Centro Andaluz de Biología Molecular y Medicina Regenerativa, E–41092 Sevilla, Spain (L.H., J.C.R.); and Section of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, California 95616 (J.J.H.)

Synthesis and accumulation of seed storage proteins (SSPs) is an important aspect of the seed maturation program. Genes encoding SSPs are specifically and highly expressed in the seed during maturation. However, the mechanisms that repress the expression of these genes in leaf tissue are not well understood. To gain insight into the repression mechanisms, we performed a genetic screen for mutants that express SSPs in leaves. Here, we show that mutations affecting BRAHMA (BRM), a SNF2 chromatin-remodeling ATPase, cause ectopic expression of a subset of SSPs and other embryogenesis-related genes in leaf tissue. Consistent with the notion that such SNF2-like ATPases form protein complexes in vivo, we observed similar phenotypes for mutations of AtSWI3C, a BRM-interacting partner, and BSH, a SNF5 homolog and essential SWI/SNF subunit. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that BRM is recruited to the promoters of a number of embryogenesis genes in wild-type leaves, including the 2S genes, expressed in brm leaves. Consistent with its role in nucleosome remodeling, BRM appears to affect the chromatin structure of the At2S2 promoter. Thus, the BRM-containing chromatin-remodeling ATPase complex involved in many aspects of plant development mediates the repression of SSPs in leaf tissue.

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: Yuhai Cui (cuiy{at}agr.gc.ca).

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www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.108.121996

^* Corresponding author; e-mail cuiy{at}agr.gc.ca.

Received April 25, 2008; accepted May 22, 2008; published May 28, 2008.