Abstract
Epigenetics has been recognised to play vital roles in many plant developmental processes, including floral initiation through the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. The histone modifying proteins that mediate these modifications involve the SET domain-containing histone methyltransferases, JmjC domain-containing demethylase, acetylases and deacetylases. In addition, RNA interference (RNAi)-associated genes are also involved in epigenetic regulation via RNA-directed DNA methylation and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Soybean, a major crop legume, requires a short day to induce flowering. How histone modifications regulate the plant response to external cues that initiate flowering is still largely unknown. Here, we used RNA-seq to address the dynamics of transcripts that are potentially involved in the epigenetic programming and RNAi mediated gene silencing during the floral initiation of soybean. Soybean is a paleopolyploid that has been subjected to at least two rounds of whole genome duplication events. We report that the expanded genomic repertoire of histone modifiers and RNA silencing genes in soybean includes 14 histone acetyltransferases, 24 histone deacetylases, 47 histone methyltransferases, 15 protein arginine methyltransferases, 24 JmjC domain-containing demethylases and 47 RNAi-associated genes. To investigate the role of these histone modifiers and RNA silencing genes during floral initiation, we compared the transcriptional dynamics of the leaf and shoot apical meristem at different time points after a short-day treatment. Our data reveal that the extensive activation of genes that are usually involved in the epigenetic programming and RNAi gene silencing in the soybean shoot apical meristem are reprogrammed for floral development following an exposure to inductive conditions.
Highlights
Flowering is a crucial process during the life cycle of plants which determines reproductive success in plant and underpins productivity in agriculture
[51] as well as transcriptome data in the leaf and shoot apical meristem of soybean after exposure to an inductive short-day treatment [52], we provide a comprehensive overview of the histone modifiers and RNA silencing genes involved in the flower initiation of soybean
We have successfully identified 124 histone modifiers and 47 RNA interference (RNAi) silencing genes whose transcripts were differentially expressed in the soybean leaf and shoot apical meristem during the flowering initiation process
Summary
Flowering is a crucial process during the life cycle of plants which determines reproductive success in plant and underpins productivity in agriculture. Grains legumes including soybeans (Glycine max) are second only to cereal crops as a source of food and feed. Soybean is one of the world’s most important crops, for most of the worldwide oilseed production. Soybean cultivars from different maturity groups display variability in the photoperiod (and/or temperature) stimulus requirements for the initiation of flowering [1]. Recent studies on the underlying mechanisms for floral initiation process in soybeans and other legumes species has highlighted the unique aspect on legume reproduction [2,3,4,5,6]
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