Epigenetic regulation of peanut allergen gene Ara h 3 in developing embryos

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) allergy is one of the most serious food allergies. Peanut seed protein, Ara h 3, is considered to be one of the most important peanut allergens. Little is known about the temporal and spatial regulation mechanism of Ara h 3 during seed development. In this study, chromatin structure of the Ara h 3 promoter was analyzed to examine its transcriptional regulation. Analysis of transgenic plants of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing Arah3: GUS showed that the Ara h 3 promoter could efficiently direct the seed-specific expression of the GUS reporter gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that nucleosomes were depleted at the core promoter of the Ara h 3 upon full activation in the late stage of embryo maturation, which was accompanied by a dramatic decrease of histone acetylation. However, in the early stage of embryo maturation, histone H3 hyperacetylation at the core promoter of Ara h 3 was detected. A decrease of histone H3-K9 dimethylation levels at core promoter of Ara h 3 was also observed with concomitant repression of Ara h 3 in the vegetative tissues. Our results suggest that the histone modification status of Ara h 3 undergoes targeted changes including the increase of histone H3 acetylation and decrease of histone H3-K9 dimethylation in early maturation embryos. In addition, the loss of histone H3 from the proximal promoter of Ara h 3 is associated with its high expression during late embryo maturation.

Epigenetics, Asthma, and Allergic Diseases: A Review of the Latest Advancements

“…In one paper, the promoter of the peanut allergen Ara h 3 underwent changes in histone acetylation influencing its gene expression in early- and late-maturation embryos [49]. Clearly the implication of this research in relation to susceptibility to allergy is unclear but does suggest the potential wide scope of some of these processes.…”

HISTONE DEACETYLASE19 Interacts with HSL1 and Participates in the Repression of Seed Maturation Genes inArabidopsisSeedlings

“…Histone modifications were found to be associated with ectopic expression of the phaseolin (phas) gene, a seed-specific gene in French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) (Ng et al, 2006). Nucleosome loss and histone modifications were also found to regulate oleosin and Ara h 3 gene expression in developing peanut (Arachis hypogaea) embryos Fu et al, 2010). PICKLE (PKL), a CHD3 chromatin remodeling factor, acts in concert with gibberellin to repress embryonic traits after germination (Ogas et al, 1997(Ogas et al, , 1999Dean Rider et al, 2003;Henderson et al, 2004;Rider et al, 2004;Li et al, 2005).…”

Advancements in molecular marker development and their applications in the management of biotic stresses in peanuts

“…It has been observed that bacterially infected plant tissue shows a net reduction in DNA methylation, which may affect the disease resistance genes responsible for surveillance against pathogens (Alvarez et al, 2010). An investigation regarding epigenetic regulation mechanisms of the peanut allergen gene Arah3 in developing peanut embryos demonstrated an association between the loss of histone H3 from the proximal promoter and high expression of Arah3 during embryo maturation (Fu et al, 2010). For better understanding and management of various biotic stresses in peanuts, there is an urgent need to determine the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of different biotic stress resistant genes and promoters.…”