Modular function of long noncoding RNA, COLDAIR, in the vernalization response

Abstract

The long noncoding RNA COLDAIR is necessary for the repression of a floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) during vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana. The repression of FLC is mediated by increased enrichment of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) and subsequent trimethylation of Histone H3 Lysine 27 (H3K27me3) at FLC chromatin. In this study we found that the association of COLDAIR with chromatin occurs only at the FLC locus and that the central region of the COLDAIR transcript is critical for this interaction. A modular motif in COLDAIR is responsible for the association with PRC2 in vitro, and the mutations within the motif that reduced the association of COLDAIR with PRC2 resulted in vernalization insensitivity. The vernalization insensitivity caused by mutant COLDAIR was rescued by the ectopic expression of the wild-type COLDAIR. Our study reveals the molecular framework in which COLDAIR lncRNA mediates the PRC2-mediated repression of FLC during vernalization.