Histone modification and signaling cascade of the dormancy-associated MADS-box gene, PpMADS13-1, in Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) during endodormancy

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25292027
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Horticultural science
• Research Institution: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
• Principal Investigator: MORIGUCHI Takaya 国立研究開発法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 果樹茶業研究部門カンキツ研究領域, 領域長 (80343945)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ニホンナシ / 休眠 / DAM遺伝子 / シグナル伝達

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To gain insight into the reduction of a Japanese pear DAM homolog (PpMADS13-1) expression toward endodormancy release, we investigated the histone modification in PpMADS13-1 locus via chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR. Our results indicated that reduction in the active histone mark by trimethylation of the histone H3 tail at lysine 4 and loss of histone variant H2A.Z contributed to the reduction of PpMADS13-1 expression toward endodormancy release. Subsequently, we found that PpCBF2, a pear C-repeated binding factor, regulated PpMADS13-1 expression via interaction of PpCBF2 with the 5′-upstream region of PpMADS13-1. Furthermore, transient reporter assay confirmed no interaction between the PpMADS13-1 protein and the pear FLOWERING LOCUS T genes. We also showed that the size of flower buds did not change significantly during endodormancy, but rapid enlargement took place at the end of ecodormancy concomitant with the increase in free water content.

Free Research Field

農学