The Mediator kinase module enhances polymerase activity to regulate transcriptional memory after heat stress in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT: Plants are often exposed to recurring adverse environmental conditions in the wild. Acclimation to high temperatures entails transcriptional responses, which prime plants to better withstand subsequent stress events. Heat stress (HS)-induced transcriptional memory results in more efficient re-induction of transcription upon recurrence of heat stress. Here, we identified CDK8 and MED12, two subunits of the kinase module of the transcription co-regulator complex, Mediator, as promoters of heat stress memory and associated histone modifications in Arabidopsis. CDK8 is recruited to heat-stress memory genes by HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2 (HSFA2). Like HSFA2, CDK8 is largely dispensable for the initial gene induction upon HS, and its function in transcriptional memory is thus independent

SUBMITTER: Crawford T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10897291 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature