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Summary: PAF1-complex-mediated histone
methylation of FLOWERING
LOCUS C chromatin is required
for the vernalization-responsive,
winter-annual habit in Arabidopsis
Yuehui He,1,3
Mark R. Doyle,1,2,3
and Richard M. Amasino1,2,4
1
Department of Biochemistry and 2
Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
The winter-annual habit (which typically involves a requirement for exposure to the cold of winter to flower
in the spring) in Arabidopsis thaliana is mainly due to the repression of flowering by relatively high levels of
FLC expression. Exposure to prolonged cold attenuates FLC expression through a process known as
vernalization and thus permits flowering to occur in the spring. Here we show that the elevated FLC
expression characteristic of nonvernalized winter annuals requires two genes, EARLY FLOWERING 7 (ELF7)
and EARLY FLOWERING 8 (ELF8), that are homologs of components of the PAF1 complex of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. Furthermore, ELF7 and ELF8 are also required for the expression of other genes in the FLC clade of
flowering repressors such as MAF2 and FLM. FLC, FLM, and MAF2 are involved in multiple flowering
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