Mutations in two non-canonical Arabidopsis SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPases cause embryogenesis and stem cell maintenance defects.

SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPases play important roles in plant and metazoan development. Whereas metazoans generally encode one or two SWI2/SNF2 ATPase genes, Arabidopsis encodes four such chromatin regulators: the well-studied BRAHMA and SPLAYED ATPases, as well as two closely related non-canonical SWI2/SNF2 ATPases, CHR12 and CHR23. No developmental role has as yet been described for CHR12 and CHR23.

Histone modifications and dynamic regulation of genome accessibility in plants.

In all eukaryotes chromatin physically restricts the accessibility of the genome to regulatory proteins such as transcription factors. Plant model systems have been instrumental in demonstrating that this restriction is dynamic and changes during development and in response to exogenous cues. Among the multiple epigenetic mechanisms that alter chromatin to regulate gene expression, histone modifications play a major role.

Unique, shared, and redundant roles for the Arabidopsis SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling ATPases BRAHMA and SPLAYED.

Chromatin remodeling is emerging as a central mechanism for patterning and differentiation in multicellular eukaryotes. SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling ATPases are conserved in the animal and plant kingdom and regulate transcriptional programs in response to endogenous and exogenous cues. In contrast with their metazoan orthologs, null mutants in two Arabidopsis thaliana SWI/SNF ATPases, BRAHMA (BRM) and SPLAYED (SYD), are viable, facilitating investigation of their role in the organism.

A role for chromatin remodeling in regulation of CUC gene expression in the Arabidopsis cotyledon boundary.

The CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON (CUC) genes CUC1, CUC2 and CUC3 act redundantly to control cotyledon separation in Arabidopsis. In order to identify novel regulators of this process, we have performed a phenotypical enhancer screen using a null allele of cuc2, cuc2-1. We identified three nonsense alleles of AtBRM, an Arabidopsis SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling ATPase, that result in strong cotyledon fusion in cuc2-1.

The role of SEUSS in auxin response and floral organ patterning.

Genetic and physiological analyses implicate auxin flux in patterning, initiation and growth of floral organs. Within the Arabidopsis flower, the ETTIN/ARF3 transcription factor responds to auxin to effect perianth organ number and reproductive organ differentiation. This work describes a modifier of ettin that causes filamentous, mispositioned outer whorl organs and reduced numbers of malformed stamens in the double mutant.

Identification of a developmental transition in plasmodesmatal function during embryogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plasmodesmata provide routes for communication and nutrient transfer between plant cells by interconnecting the cytoplasm of adjacent cells. A simple fluorescent tracer loading assay was developed to monitor patterns of cell-to-cell transport via plasmodesmata specifically during embryogenesis. A developmental transition in plasmodesmatal size exclusion limit was found to occur at the torpedo stage of embryogenesis in Arabidopsis; at this time, plasmodesmata are down-regulated, allowing transport of small (approx.