Faculty of Agronomy, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 5;23(13):7458. doi: 10.3390/ijms23137458.
Although histone lysine methylation has been studied in thale cress ( (L.) Heynh.) and rice ( L.) in recent years, its function in maize ( L.) remains poorly characterized. To better understand the function of histone lysine methylation in maize, SDG102, a H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) methylase, was chosen for functional characterization using overexpressed and knockout transgenic plants. SDG102-deficiency in maize caused multiple phenotypes including yellow leaves in seedlings, late-flowering, and increased adult plant height, while the overexpression of led to reduced adult plant height. The key flowering genes, and , were downregulated in SDG102-deficient plants. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments showed that H3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) levels were reduced at these loci. Perturbation of expression caused the misexpression of multiple genes. Interestingly, the overexpression or knockout of also led to genome-wide decreases and increases in the H3K36me3 levels, respectively. Together, our results suggest that SDG102 is a methyltransferase that catalyzes the trimethylation of H3K36 of many genes across the maize genome, which are involved in multiple biological processes including those controlling flowering time.
尽管近年来在拟南芥（（L.）Heynh.）和水稻（L.）中研究了组蛋白赖氨酸甲基化，但它在玉米（L.）中的功能仍知之甚少。为了更好地了解组蛋白赖氨酸甲基化在玉米中的功能，选择了 H3 赖氨酸 36（H3K36）甲基转移酶 SDG102 用于过表达和敲除转基因植物的功能表征。玉米中 SDG102 的缺失导致多种表型，包括幼苗黄化、开花晚和成年植株高度增加，而过表达则导致成年植株高度降低。关键的开花基因和在 SDG102 缺失的植物中下调。染色质免疫沉淀（ChIP）实验表明，这些基因座处的 H3 赖氨酸 36 三甲基化（H3K36me3）水平降低。表达的干扰导致多个基因的错误表达。有趣的是，的过表达或敲除也分别导致全基因组的 H3K36me3 水平降低和增加。总之，我们的结果表明，SDG102 是一种甲基转移酶，可催化玉米基因组中许多基因的 H3K36 三甲基化，这些基因参与包括控制开花时间在内的多种生物学过程。
