Abstract
Deciphering the mechanisms directing transcription factors (TFs) to specific genome regions is essential to understand and predict transcriptional regulation. TFs recognize short DNA motifs primarily through their DNA-binding domain. Some TFs also possess an oligomerization domain suspected to potentiate DNA binding but for which the genome-wide influence remains poorly understood. Here we focus on the LEAFY transcription factor, a master regulator of flower development in angiosperms. We have determined the crystal structure of its conserved amino-terminal domain, revealing an unanticipated Sterile Alpha Motif oligomerization domain. We show that this domain is essential to LEAFY floral function. Moreover, combined biochemical and genome-wide assays suggest that oligomerization is required for LEAFY to access regions with low-affinity binding sites or closed chromatin. This finding shows that domains that do not directly contact DNA can nevertheless have a profound impact on the DNA binding landscape of a TF.
Highlights
To perform the analysis presented in Supplementary Fig. 9, we kept only the 436 regions found as bound in 35S:LFY seedlings that intersected with regions bound by LFY in inflorescences according to ref. 18 and performed the whole pipeline of analysis
Our study offers evidence that TF oligomerization can have a profound impact on its genome-wide DNA-binding landscape
Summary
We aimed to pinpoint how a functional SAM domain contributes to LFY function at the molecular level
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