Histones and Plant Hormones: New Evidence for an Interesting Interplay

Abstract

As any living organism, plants have to respond to a wide variety of biotic and abiotic signals. One of the most important challenges for the plant cell is the response to plant hormones, compounds that regulate almost all aspects of plant development. This process involves the appropriate alteration of chromatin structure and function which can be facilitated by a number of different mechanisms, including histone covalent modifications, incorporation of distinct histone variants, chromatin remodeling and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. On the other hand, distinct chromatin states may in turn influence plant hormone biosynthesis and signaling. This article aims to review the evidence accumulated the last years concerning the effect of the major plant hormones - auxin, gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene, abscisic acid, brassinosteroids and jasmonic acid - signaling on histone variants and modification pattern and to discuss the interplay between histones and hormones at plant chromatin.