Chromatin-mediated regulation of flowering time in Arabidopsis

Both the transcriptional activation and repression of the major floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) are under the control of numerous chromatin modifiers. Some of these modifiers are involved in histone modification or chromatin remodeling that is generally linked to the transcriptional activation. Other modifiers are required for the formation of repressive FLC chromatin, which involves histone deacetylation and methylation processes. Epigenetic memory of vernalization is also recorded as a histone modification in FLC chromatin. Many proteins that resemble known chromatin modifiers have been proven to regulate gene expressions in the photoperiodic flowering pathway. Therefore, chromatin modification might also act as a mechanism for plants to recollect the experience of exposure to inductive photoperiods.