BioProject

The acquisition of germination and post-embryonic developmental ability during seed maturation is vital for seed vigor, an important trait for plant propagation and crop production. More...

The acquisition of germination and post-embryonic developmental ability during seed maturation is vital for seed vigor, an important trait for plant propagation and crop production. How seed vigor is established in seeds is still poorly understood. Here, we report the crucial function of Arabidopsis histone variant H3.3 in chromatin structure regulation that endows seeds with post-embryonic developmental potentials. H3.3 is not essential for seed formation, but the loss of H3.3 results in severely impaired germination and post-embryonic development. H3.3 exhibits a seed-specific 5’ gene end distribution, which facilities chromatin opening in seeds. During germination, this H3.3-established chromatin accessibility is essential for proper gene transcriptional regulation. Moreover, H3.3 is constantly loaded at the 3’ gene end and restricts chromatin accessibility to prevent cryptic transcription and protect gene body DNA methylation. Our results suggest a fundamental role of H3.3 in initiating chromatin opening at regulatory regions in seed to license the embryonic to post-embryonic transition. Overall design: Transcriptome, chromatin accessibility, H3.3 and H2A.Z enrichment, and DNA methylation were examined in Col or h3.3ko mutant Less...