Dual role of specific promoter tandem repeats integrating epigenetic silencing with heat response

Abstract

Satellites are ubiquitous noncoding tandemly repeated sequences, yet knowledge about their biological relevance is still scarce. In plants, the few described cases point to roles in heterochromatin biology and gene regulation; however, a direct link to plant stress responses is yet to be uncovered. We present evidence that particular non-centromere tandem repeats may display a central regulatory role in the intersection between epigenetic silencing and gene expression in dynamic environments. Within the projected promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana's imprinted SDC locus, a transcriptional gene silencing targeted tandem-repeated area largely mediates epigenetic suppression and imprinting. Here, we show that this area, possibly acting as a cis-element/enhancer, appears necessary and sufficient for SDC's heat transcriptional activity in vegetative tissues. Our results indicate that these particular noncoding tandem repeats may be genic and exhibit dual roles, not only as silencers at normal temperatures but also facilitating expression upon stress. An unusual adaptive form of abiotic transcriptional control unrelated to canonical heat signaling is implied, emphasizing a potential importance of genomic satellites for plant environmental epigenetics.