Histone H3 variants in male gametic cells of lily and H3 methylation in mature pollen

Abstract

Histones are vital structural proteins of chromatin that influence its dynamics and function. The tissue-specific expression of histone variants has been shown to regulate the expression of specific genes and genomic stability in animal systems. Here we report on the characterization of five histone H3 variants expressed in Lilium generative cell. The gcH3 and leH3 variants show unique sequence diversity by lacking a conserved lysine residue at position 9 (H3K9). The gH3 shares conserved structural features with centromeric H3 of Arabidopsis. The gH3 variant gene is strongly expressed in generative cells and gH3 histone is incorporated in to generative cell chromatin. The lysine residue of H..