Plants are sensitive to temperature and respond to changes by, for example, adjusting flowering times. Vinod Kumar and Philip Wigge of the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, have discovered the molecular mechanism behind this in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Warmer temperatures trigger the loosening of certain nucleosomes — tightly wound DNA structures — allowing the up- or downregulation of certain genes.
The researchers first identified a mutant (pictured above right) in which flowering occurs more rapidly than usual — the same behaviour seen in plants exposed to warmer temperatures. They found that the mutant plant is unable to incorporate a protein called histone H2A.Z into its nucleosomes to keep them wound up. The duo found that as temperatures rise, H2A.Z is less able to bind to nucleosomes, causing them to unravel.
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Molecular biology: Flowering time unravelled. Nature 463, 139 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/463139c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/463139c
