Histone 4 lysine 5/12 acetylation enables developmental plasticity of Pristionchus mouth form.

ABSTRACT: Development can be altered to match phenotypes with the environment, and the genetic mechanisms that direct such alternative phenotypes are beginning to be elucidated. Yet, the rules that govern environmental sensitivity vs. invariant development, and potential epigenetic memory, remain unknown. Here, we show that plasticity of nematode mouth forms is determined by histone 4 lysine 5 and 12 acetylation (H4K5/12ac). Acetylation in early larval stages provides a permissive chromatin state, which is susceptible to induction during the critical window of environmental sensitivity. As development proceeds deacetylation shuts off switch gene expression to end the critical period. Inhibiting deacetylase enzymes leads to fixation of prior developmental trajectories, demonstrating that histone modi

SUBMITTER: Werner MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10102330 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature