Abscisic acid negatively regulates the Polycomb‐mediated H3K27me3 through the PHD‐finger protein, VIL1.

Summary: Polycomb dictates developmental programs in higher eukaryotes, including flowering plants. A phytohormone, abscisic acid (ABA), plays a pivotal role in seed and seedling development and mediates responses to multiple environmental stresses, such as salinity and drought.In this study, we show that ABA affects the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)‐mediated Histone H3 Lys 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) through VIN3‐LIKE1/VERNALIZATION 5 (VIL1/VRN5) to fine‐tune the timely repression of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3) and ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 4 (ABI4) in Arabidopsis thaliana.vil1 mutants exhibit hypersensitivity to ABA during early seed germination and show enhanced drought tolerance.Our study revealed that the ABA signaling pathway utilizes a facultative component of the chromatin remodeling complex to demarcate the level of expression of ABA‐responsive genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]