Temperature Sensing Is Distributed throughout the Regulatory Network that Controls FLC Epigenetic Silencing in Vernalization

First author: Rea L.Antoniou-Kourounioti; Affiliations: John Innes Centre (约翰英纳斯中心): Norwich, UK

Corresponding author: Martin Howard

Many organisms need to respond to complex, noisy environmental signals for developmental decision making. Here, we dissect how Arabidopsis plants integrate widely fluctuating field temperatures over month-long timescales to progressively upregulate VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE3 (VIN3) and silence FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), aligning flowering with spring. We develop a mathematical model for vernalization that operates on multiple timescales—long term (month), short term (day), and current (hour)—and is constrained by experimental data. Our analysis demonstrates that temperature sensing is not localized to specific nodes within the FLC network. Instead, temperature sensing is broadly distributed, with each thermosensory process responding to specific features of the plants’ history of exposure to warm and cold. The model accurately predicts FLC silencing in new field data, allowing us to forecast FLC expression in changing climates. We suggest that distributed thermosensing may be a general property of thermoresponsive regulatory networks in complex natural environments.

许多生物需要响应复杂的环境信号来决定发育进程。本文，作者解析了拟南芥是如何整合数个月的环境温度变化以逐步上调VIN3和沉默FLC，进而保证植物在春天开花。作者开发了一个数学模型以适合试验条件下不同的时间尺度范围：以月为单位的长期时间尺度，以日为单位的短期时间尺度和以小时为单位的瞬间尺度。本文的研究揭示了对于温度的感应并不局限于FLC网络的某个特异分枝上。相反，温度感应广泛分布，每一个热感应进程响应于植物处于温暖和寒冷气候历史的特性。该模型精确预测了植物在新的田间条件下的FLC沉默，所以能帮助我们在变化的气候条件下预测FLC基因的表达。本文研究显示热感应的分布可能是植物在复杂的自然环境中热响应调控网络的一个普遍性质。

通讯：Martin Howard (https://www.jic.ac.uk/people/professor-martin-howard/)

研究方向：植物如何通过表观修饰存在“记忆”的；植物如何控制自身的大小的；蛋白的时空动态调控机制。

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2018.10.011

Journal: Cell Systems

Published date: November 28, 2018