The role of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in retrograde signalling

2026-07-22

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), as one of the most well-described Polycomb group (PcG) complexes, catalyzes the trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and represses transcription of target genes. It is a central regulator in multiple developmental processes and conserved across diverse eukaryotes. Recent results from the host lab suggested novel roles of A. thaliana PRC2 in retrograde signalling. To study retrograde signalling, chloroplast translation inhibitor lincomycin was revealed to affect plastid-encoded photosynthetic genes (PhAPGs) and nuclear-encoded photosynthetic genes (PhANGs). The mechanism of PhANGs repression depends on the optimal function of GENOMES-UNCOUPLED (GUN) genes and loss-of-function mutant gun1 fails to repress the PhANGs in response to lincomycin. Interestingly, I recently found that root growth of single mutants of clf-29, swn-3, double mutants of clf-29gun1-1, and swn-3gun1-1 is insensitive to lincomycin, and the mutants phenocopy gun1 upon lincomycin. However, how PRC2 involved in retrograde signalling remains unknown. Therefore, PRCretro project aims to understand the fundamental aspect of PRC2 in retrograde signalling by three WPs. PRCretro combines the applicant’s expertise in root-shoot communication and physiological studies with the host lab's expertise in developmental epigenetics. Together, PRCretro project will provide the first knowledge on epigenetic contribution and root-shoot communication to retrograde signalling. It will also establish the fundamentals for studying retrograde signalling and PRC2 in moss, laying the foundation for evolution studies. The research results of PRCretro project will be disseminated to the scientific community by submission of high-impact scientific articles and oral presentations.

Czech Republic

2026-01-01