A Matter of Timing: Plants flower only when their developmental programs give the go-ahead; otherwise floral genes remain repressed. Sun et al. ( 10.1126/science.1248559 ; see the Perspective by Zhang ) analyzed the regulatory program that controls expression of the transcription factor KNUCKLES (KNU), which is required in the control of floral genes. KNU expression was silenced by the presence of Polycomb group (PcG) proteins. The floral homeotic protein AGAMOUS competed for control of KNU and activated its expression, but with a 2-day lag time. Thus, eviction of PcG by activating DNA binding proteins can insert a lag time before a switch in gene expression takes place.

As sessile organisms, plants have evolved multiple mechanisms to respond to environmental changes to improve survival. Arabidopsis plants show accelerated flowering at increased temperatures. Here we show that Jumonji-C domain-containing protein JMJ30 directly binds to the flowering-repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) locus and removes the repressive histone modification H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). At elevated temperatures, the JMJ30 RNA and protein are stabilized, and FLC expression is maintained at high levels to prevent extreme precocious flowering. The double mutant of JMJ30 and its homologue JMJ32, grown at elevated temperatures, exhibits an early-flowering phenotype similar to the flc mutant, which is associated with increased H3K27me3 levels at the FLC locus and decreased FLC expression. Furthermore, ectopic expression of JMJ30 causes an FLC-dependent late-flowering phenotype. Taken together, JMJ30/JMJ32-mediated histone demethylation at the FLC locus constitutes a balancing mechanism in flowering control at warm temperatures to prevent premature early flowering.

Acclimation to high temperature increases plants’ tolerance of subsequent lethal high temperatures. Although epigenetic regulation of plant gene expression is well studied, how plants maintain a memory of environmental changes over time remains unclear. Here, we show that JUMONJI (JMJ) proteins, demethylases involved in histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), are necessary for Arabidopsis thaliana heat acclimation. Acclimation induces sustained H3K27me3 demethylation at HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN22 (HSP22) and HSP17.6C loci by JMJs, poising the HSP genes for subsequent activation. Upon sensing heat after a 3-day interval, JMJs directly reactivate these HSP genes. Finally, jmj mutants fail to maintain heat memory under fluctuating field temperature conditions. Our findings of an epigenetic memory mechanism involving histone demethylases may have implications for environmental adaptation of field plants.

Proper floral patterning, including the number and position of floral organs in most plant species, is tightly controlled by the precise regulation of the persistence and size of floral meristems (FMs). In Arabidopsis, two known feedback pathways, one composed of WUSCHEL (WUS) and CLAVATA3 (CLV3) and the other composed of AGAMOUS (AG) and WUS, spatially and temporally control floral stem cells, respectively. However, mounting evidence suggests that other factors, including phytohormones, are also involved in floral meristem regulation. Here, we show that the boundary gene SUPERMAN (SUP) bridges floral organogenesis and floral meristem determinacy in another pathway that involves auxin signaling. SUP interacts with components of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and fine‐tunes local auxin signaling by negatively regulating the expression of the auxin biosynthesis genes YUCCA1/4 (YUC1/4). In sup mutants, derepressed local YUC1/4 activity elevates auxin levels at the boundary between whorls 3 and 4, which leads to an increase in the number and the prolonged maintenance of floral stem cells, and consequently an increase in the number of reproductive organs. Our work presents a new floral meristem regulatory mechanism, in which SUP, a boundary gene, coordinates floral organogenesis and floral meristem size through fine‐tuning auxin biosynthesis. Synopsis SUPERMAN (SUP) controls the specification and maintenance of the boundary between stamens in whorl 3 and carpels in whorl 4. This boundary gene functions as an active repressor of auxin biosynthesis that regulates flower development, the absence of which leads to flowers with supernumerary stamens. SUP recruits the Polycomb Group (PcG) component CURLY LEAF (CLF) to directly repress auxin biosynthesis genes YUCCA1 and 4 (YUC1/4) locally. The derepression of YUC1/4 in sup mutants causes ectopic auxin activity at the whorl 3/4 boundary region. Perturbed auxin activity in sup flowers results in delayed termination of stem cell activity and increase in FM size, which then leads to increased stamen number.

Trimethylation of lysine 36 of histone H3 (H3K36me3) is found to be associated with various transcription events. In Arabidopsis, the H3K36me3 level peaks in the first half of coding regions, which is in contrast to the 3′-end enrichment in animals. The MRG15 family proteins function as ‘reader’ proteins by binding to H3K36me3 to control alternative splicing or prevent spurious intragenic transcription in animals. Here, we demonstrate that two closely related Arabidopsis homologues (MRG1 and MRG2) are localised to the euchromatin and redundantly ensure the increased transcriptional levels of two flowering time genes with opposing functions, FLOWERING LOCUS C and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). MRG2 directly binds to the FT locus and elevates the expression in an H3K36me3-dependent manner. MRG1/2 binds to H3K36me3 with their chromodomain and interact with the histone H4-specific acetyltransferases (HAM1 and HAM2) to achieve a high expression level through active histone acetylation at the promoter and 5′ regions of target loci. Together, this study presents a mechanistic link between H3K36me3 and histone H4 acetylation. Our data also indicate that the biological functions of MRG1/2 have diversified from their animal homologues during evolution, yet they still maintain their conserved H3K36me3-binding molecular function.

Epigenetic regulation controls multiple aspects of the plant development. The N-terminal tail of histone can be differently modified to regulate various chromatin activities. One of them, the trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) confers a repressive chromatin state with gene silencing. H3K27me3 is dynamically deposited and removed throughout development. While components of the H3K27me3 writer, Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), have been reported for almost 2 decades, it is only recently that JUMONJI (JMJ) proteins are reported as H3K27me3 demethylases, affirming the dynamic nature of histone modifications. This review highlights recent progress in plant epigenetic research, focusing on the H3K27me3 demethylases.