Biological Functions of Plant Histone Variants

ZHANG Yue¹, ZHANG Aiqin¹, PANG Qiuying¹*, YAN Xiufeng²*

(¹Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; ²College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China)

Abstract:

Histone variants are important epigenetic regulators, which can replace canonical histones at specific sites on chromatin, to maintain chromatin structure and ensure transcriptional activation or repression. At present, the regulatory function of histone variants has become a research hotspot in plant biology. The recent studies on the biological functions of plant histone variants have shown that histone variants can play critical roles in multiple biological processes such as plant growth and development, as well as environment responses. This review briefly introduces the known plant histone variants, and systematically reviews the biological functions and regulatory processes of various histone variants in multiple biological processes of plants, providing a reference for deeply understanding the regulatory mechanism of plant histone variants.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2021.01.0001