Genome-wide histone acetylation correlates with active transcription in maize

Wei Zhang, Nelson Garcia, Yaping Feng, Han Zhao, Joachim Messing

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gene expression is regulated at many different levels during the life cycle of all plant species. Recent investigations have taken advantage of next-generation sequencing to study the relevance of DNA methylation and sRNAs in controlling tissue-specific gene expression in maize at the genome-wide level. Here, we profiled H3K27ac in maize, which has one of the largest sequenced plant genomes due to the amplification of retrotransposons. Because transcribed genes represent only a small proportion of its genome, gene-specific epigenetic modifications are concentrated in a relatively small percentage of the genome. Indeed, H3K27ac marks are mostly in gene-rich, in contrast to gene-poor regions. A large proportion of those marks are located in transcribed regions of genes, including 111 out of 458 known genetic loci. Moreover, increased transcription correlates with the presence of H3K27ac modification in gene bodies. Using maize as an example, we suggest that H3K27ac marks actively transcribed genes in plants.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)214-220
Number of pages7
JournalGenomics
Volume106
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Genetics

Keywords

  • H3K27ac
  • Histone modification
  • Maize
  • Next-generation sequencing

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