A distal CCAAT/NUCLEAR FACTOR Y complex promotes chromatin looping at the FLOWERING LOCUS T promoter and regulates the timing of flowering in Arabidopsis

Plant Cell. 2014 Mar;26(3):1009-17. doi: 10.1105/tpc.113.120352. Epub 2014 Mar 7.

Abstract

For many plant species, reproductive success relies on the proper timing of flowering, and photoperiod provides a key environmental input. Photoperiod-dependent flowering depends on timely expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT); however, the coordination of various cis-regulatory elements in the FT promoter is not well understood. Here, we provide evidence that long-distance chromatin loops bring distal enhancer elements into close association with the proximal promoter elements bound by CONSTANS (CO). Additionally, we show that NUCLEAR FACTOR Y (NF-Y) binds a CCAAT box in the distal enhancer element and that CCAAT disruption dramatically reduces FT promoter activity. Thus, we propose the recruitment model of photoperiod-dependent flowering where NF-Y complexes, bound at the FT distal enhancer element, help recruit CO to proximal cis-regulatory elements and initiate the transition to reproductive growth.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
  • CCAAT-Binding Factor / genetics*
  • Chromatin / genetics*
  • Flowers*
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic*

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • CCAAT-Binding Factor
  • Chromatin
  • FT protein, Arabidopsis
  • nuclear factor Y