BACKGROUND: In seeds, the transition from dormancy to germination is regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs), and involves chromatin remodelling. Particularly, the repressive mark H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) has been shown to target many master regulators of this transition. DAG1 (DOF AFFECTING GERMINATION1), is a negative regulator of seed germination in Arabidopsis, and directly represses the GA biosynthetic gene GA3ox1 (gibberellin 3-β-dioxygenase 1). We set to investigate the role of DAG1 in seed dormancy and maturation with respect to epigenetic and hormonal control. RESULTS: We show that DAG1 expression is controlled at the epigenetic level through the H3K27me3 mark during the seed-to-seedling transition, and that DAG1 directly represses also the ABA catabolic gene CYP707A2; consistently, the ABA level is lower while the GA level is higher in dag1 mutant seeds. Furthermore, both DAG1 expression and protein stability are controlled by GAs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point to DAG1 as a key player in the control of the developmental switch between seed dormancy and germination.

Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie C Darwin Sapienza Università di Roma Piazzale Aldo Moro 5 00185 Rome Italy

Institut Jean Pierre Bourgin UMR1318 INRA AgroParisTech Université Paris Saclay RD10 78026 Versailles Cedex France

Istituto Pasteur Italia Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti Rome Italy

Laboratory of Growth Regulators Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR and Palacký University Šlechtitelů 11 CZ 783 71 Olomouc Czech Republic

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