ZmEMF1a is required for the maintenance of H2Aub and H3K27me3 modifications in maize kernel development
6 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, National Maize Improvement Center, China Agricultural University
- 2State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding/Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
- 3State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, China Agricultural University
- 4National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science
- 5College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University
- 6Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding (MOE), State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genome Editing Research and Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, National Maize Improvement Center, China Agricultural University
Abstract
Background Polycomb group (PcG) proteins silence gene expression by depositing histone modifications such as H2Aub and H3K27me3, and this process is essential for maintaining cell type and tissue-specific gene expression patterns. However, the role of PcG proteins in regulating gene expression through H2Aub and H3K27me3 during maize kernel development remains poorly understood. Results Here, we characterize a maize miniature seed mutant, mn8, and identify the causal gene as ZmEMF1a, a plant-specific PcG protein. A mutation in ZmEMF1a significantly reduces kernel size and weight. Molecular analyses demonstrate that ZmEMF1a interacts with ZmRING1 (a PRC1 component) and ZmMSI1 (a PRC2 component), which are essential for the establishment of H2Aub and H3K27me3 modifications. Loss of ZmEMF1a leads to a significant reduction in genomic levels of both H2Aub and H3K27me3. Integrated ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analyses revealed that H2Aub is negatively correlated with gene expression in maize, contrasting with the positive correlation reported in Arabidopsis. Compared with wild-type endosperms, mn8 endosperms exhibit up-regulated expression of cell proliferation repressor homologs, such as ZmDA1, ZmBB1, ZmES22, ZmMADS8, and ZmMADS14. Concurrently, these loci show reduced levels of H3K27me3 or H2Aub modifications. These findings suggest that ZmEMF1a deficiency disrupts the deposition of H3K27me3 and H2Aub marks at cell division regulators. Conclusions Our results indicate that ZmEMF1a plays a crucial role in regulating maize kernel development by maintaining H2Aub and H3K27me3 modification levels.
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BibTeX
@article{zhou2026zmemf1a,
title = {{ZmEMF1a is required for the maintenance of H2Aub and H3K27me3 modifications in maize kernel development}},
author = {Yueheng Zhou and Jianrui Li and Yingshuang Li and Zilong Zhao and Guoyong Liu and Xiaojie Li and Chunlei Wang and Tong Li and Shengnan Liu and Weibin Song and Jian Chen and Yan Guo and Jinsheng Lai and Hainan Zhao and Haiming Zhao and Zhijia Yang},
journal = {Genome Biology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s13059-026-04217-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-04217-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ZmEMF1a is required for the maintenance of H2Aub and H3K27me3 modifications in maize kernel development
AU - Yueheng Zhou
AU - Jianrui Li
AU - Yingshuang Li
AU - Zilong Zhao
AU - Guoyong Liu
AU - Xiaojie Li
AU - Chunlei Wang
AU - Tong Li
AU - Shengnan Liu
AU - Weibin Song
AU - Jian Chen
AU - Yan Guo
AU - Jinsheng Lai
AU - Hainan Zhao
AU - Haiming Zhao
AU - Zhijia Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Genome Biology
DO - 10.1186/s13059-026-04217-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-04217-5
AB - Background Polycomb group (PcG) proteins silence gene expression by depositing histone modifications such as H2Aub and H3K27me3, and this process is essential for maintaining cell type and tissue-specific gene expression patterns. However, the role of PcG proteins in regulating gene expression through H2Aub and H3K27me3 during maize kernel development remains poorly understood. Results Here, we characterize a maize miniature seed mutant, mn8, and identify the causal gene as ZmEMF1a, a plant-specific PcG protein. A mutation in ZmEMF1a significantly reduces kernel size and weight. Molecular analyses demonstrate that ZmEMF1a interacts with ZmRING1 (a PRC1 component) and ZmMSI1 (a PRC2 component), which are essential for the establishment of H2Aub and H3K27me3 modifications. Loss of ZmEMF1a leads to a significant reduction in genomic levels of both H2Aub and H3K27me3. Integrated ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analyses revealed that H2Aub is negatively correlated with gene expression in maize, contrasting with the positive correlation reported in Arabidopsis. Compared with wild-type endosperms, mn8 endosperms exhibit up-regulated expression of cell proliferation repressor homologs, such as ZmDA1, ZmBB1, ZmES22, ZmMADS8, and ZmMADS14. Concurrently, these loci show reduced levels of H3K27me3 or H2Aub modifications. These findings suggest that ZmEMF1a deficiency disrupts the deposition of H3K27me3 and H2Aub marks at cell division regulators. Conclusions Our results indicate that ZmEMF1a plays a crucial role in regulating maize kernel development by maintaining H2Aub and H3K27me3 modification levels.
SN - 1474-760X
ER -