AUTHOR=Conde Daniel , Perales Mariano , Sreedasyam Avinash , Tuskan Gerald A. , Lloret Alba , Badenes María L. , González-Melendi Pablo , Ríos Gabino , Allona Isabel TITLE=Engineering Tree Seasonal Cycles of Growth Through Chromatin Modification JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=10 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00412 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.00412 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=

In temperate and boreal regions, perennial trees arrest cell division in their meristematic tissues during winter dormancy until environmental conditions become appropriate for their renewed growth. Release from the dormant state requires exposure to a period of chilling temperatures similar to the vernalization required for flowering in Arabidopsis. Over the past decade, genomic DNA (gDNA) methylation and transcriptome studies have revealed signatures of chromatin regulation during active growth and winter dormancy. To date, only a few chromatin modification genes, as candidate regulators of these developmental stages, have been functionally characterized in trees. In this work, we summarize the major findings of the chromatin-remodeling role during growth-dormancy cycles and we explore the transcriptional profiling of vegetative apical bud and stem tissues during dormancy. Finally, we discuss genetic strategies designed to improve the growth and quality of forest trees.