Identification and characterization of two closely related histone H4 arginine 3 methyltransferases in Arabidopsis thaliana
- 29 October 2007
- journal article
- Published by Portland Press Ltd. in Biochemical Journal
- Vol. 408 (1), 113-121
- https://doi.org/10.1042/bj20070786
Abstract
Arginine methylation of histone H3 and H4 plays important roles in transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes such as yeasts, fruitflies, nematode worms, fish and mammals; however, less is known in plants. In the present paper, we report the identification and characterization of two Arabidopsis thaliana protein arginine N-methyltransferases, AtPRMT1a and AtPRMT1b, which exhibit high homology with human PRMT1. Both AtPRMT1a and AtPRMT1b methylated histone H4, H2A, and myelin basic protein in vitro. Site-directed mutagenesis of the third arginine (R3) on the N-terminus of histone H4 to lysine (H4R3N) completely abolished the methylation of histone H4. When fused to GFP (green fluorescent protein), both methyltransferases localized to the cytoplasm as well as to the nucleus. Consistent with their subcellular distribution, GST (glutathione transferase) pull-down assays revealed an interaction between the two methyltransferases, suggesting that both proteins may act together in a functional unit. In addition, we demonstrated that AtFib2 (Arabidopsis thaliana fibrillarin 2), an RNA methyltransferase, is a potential substrate for AtPRMT1a and AtPRMT1b, and, furthermore, uncovered a direct interaction between the protein methyltransferase and the RNA methyltransferase. Taken together, our findings implicate AtPRMT1a and AtPRMT1b as H4-R3 protein arginine N-methyltransferases in Arabidopsis and may be involved in diverse biological processes inside and outside the nucleus.This publication has 54 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mutations in the Type II Protein Arginine Methyltransferase AtPRMT5 Result in Pleiotropic Developmental Defects in ArabidopsisPlant Physiology, 2007
- SKB1-mediated symmetric dimethylation of histone H4R3 controls flowering time in ArabidopsisThe EMBO Journal, 2007
- Histone arginine methylation regulates pluripotency in the early mouse embryoNature, 2007
- SDG714, a Histone H3K9 Methyltransferase, Is Involved in Tos17 DNA Methylation and Transposition in RicePlant Cell, 2007
- The role of protein arginine methylation in the formation of silent chromatinJournal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2006
- Two Functional Modes of a Nuclear Receptor-Recruited Arginine Methyltransferase in Transcriptional ActivationMolecular Cell, 2006
- Role of histone H2A ubiquitination in Polycomb silencingNature, 2004
- Translating the Histone CodeScience, 2001
- Methylation of Histone H4 at Arginine 3 Facilitating Transcriptional Activation by Nuclear Hormone ReceptorScience, 2001
- The Mammalian Immediate-early TIS21 Protein and the Leukemia-associated BTG1 Protein Interact with a Protein-arginine -MethyltransferasePublished by Elsevier BV ,1996