Study of prototype histone codes for plant light/dark responses

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14539
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Kan 東京工業大学, 科学技術創成研究院, 教授 (60222113)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 光環境応答 / 原始紅藻 / ヒストンコード / 翻訳後修飾 / 転写調節

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using a primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae as the material, the presence and the dynamics of histone post-translational modifications in response to changes of light conditions were analyzed. We identified methylation and acetylation of histone H3K4 and H3K9, respectively, by specific monoclonal antibodies, and found these modifications accumulate at S phase and M phase of the algal cell cycle, respectively. In addition, we established a method to extract histone proteins from C. merolae cells, and also showed the possibility that homologs of plant photomorphogenic signaling factors, DET1 and COP1, are involved in the light-regulated transcriptional regulation in C. merolae.

Free Research Field

分子遺伝学、微生物学、進化細胞生物学