Chromatin immunoprecipitation protocol for histone modifications and protein-DNA binding analyses in Arabidopsis.

Epigenetic gene regulation via histone modifications controls different processes ranging from embryonic development, vegetative development, floral induction, floral organ development, to pollen tube growth. The identification of an increasing number of epigenetically regulated processes was greatly advanced by genome-wide histone modification and chromatin-protein interaction surveys. However, genome-wide approaches are too global to access in detail a large number of histone modifications taking place at a single locus. Here we provide a robust Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) protocol, allowing in vivo analyses of multiple chromatin modifications and binding of histone modifiers in different plant organs and tissues. This method is quantitative and provides a way to study the dynamic state of chromatin during plant development and also in response to different environmental stimuli.