CHR11, a chromatin-remodeling factor essential for nuclear proliferation during female gametogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana
Chromatin-remodeling factors regulate the establishment of transcriptional programs during plant development. Although 42 genes encoding members of the SWI2/SNF2 family have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, <10 have been assigned a precise function on the basis of a mutant phenotype, and...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 102; no. 47; pp. 17231 - 17236 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
22.11.2005
National Acad Sciences |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Chromatin-remodeling factors regulate the establishment of transcriptional programs during plant development. Although 42 genes encoding members of the SWI2/SNF2 family have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, <10 have been assigned a precise function on the basis of a mutant phenotype, and none have been shown to play a specific role during the gametophytic phase of the plant life cycle. A. thaliana chromatin-remodeling protein 11 (CHR11) encodes an imitation of switch (ISWI)-like chromatin-remodeling protein abundantly expressed during female gametogenesis and embryogenesis in Arabidopsis. To determine the function of CHR11 in wild-type plants, we introduced a hairpin construct leading to the production of double-stranded RNA, which specifically degraded the endogenous CHR11 mRNA by RNA interference (RNAi). Transcription of the RNAi-inducing hairpin RNA was driven by either a constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV35S) acting at most stages of the sporophytic phase or a newly identified specific promoter acting at the onset of the female gametophytic phase (pFM1). All adult transformants that constitutively lacked sporophytic CHR11 activity showed reduced plant height and small cotyledonary embryos with limited cell expansion. In contrast, RNAi lines in which CHR11 was specifically silenced at the onset of female gametogenesis (megagametogenesis) had normal height and embryo size but had defective female gametophytes arrested before the completion of the mitotic haploid nuclear divisions. These results show that CHR11 is essential for haploid nuclear proliferation during megagametogenesis and cell expansion during the sporophytic phase, demonstrating the functional versatility of SWI2/SNF2 chromatin-remodeling factors during both generations of the plant life cycle. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared. Abbreviations: CHR11, Arabidopsis chromatin-remodeling protein 11; CHR17, Arabidopsis chromatin-remodeling protein 17; ISWI protein, imitation of switch protein; RNAi, RNA interference; GUS, β-glucuronidase; siRNA, short interfering RNA fragment. Communicated by Luis Herrera-Estrella, National Polytechnic Institute, Guanajuato, Mexico, September 19, 2005 Author contributions: J.-P.V.-C. and W.H.-M. designed research; W.H.-M., M.G.-A., and G.L.-M. performed research; U.G. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; W.H.-M. and J.-P.V.-C. analyzed data; and W.H.-M. and J.-P.V.-C. wrote the paper. To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vielle@ira.cinvestav.mx. Present address: National Laboratory for Genomic Biodiversity, Langebio, Apartado Postal 629, 36500 Irapuato, Mexico. |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.0508186102 |