The SWI/SNF ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Complex in Arabidopsis Responds to Environmental Changes in Temperature-Dependent Manner

SWI/SNF ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes (CRCs) play important roles in the regulation of transcription, cell cycle, DNA replication, repair, and hormone signaling in eukaryotes. The core of SWI/SNF CRCs composed of a SWI2/SNF2 type ATPase, a SNF5 and two of SWI3 subunits is sufficient for execution of nucleosome remodeling in vitro. The Arabidopsis genome encodes four SWI2/SNF2 ATPases, four SWI3, a single SNF5 and two SWP73 subunits. Genes of the core SWI/SNF components have critical but not fully overlapping roles during plant growth, embryogenesis, and sporophyte development. Here we show that the Arabidopsis mutant exhibits a phenotypic reversion when grown at lower temperature resulting in partial restoration of its embryo, root development and fertility defects. Our data indicates that the mutation alters the expression of several genes engaged in low temperature responses. The location of SWI3C-containing SWI/SNF CRCs on the , and target genes depends on the temperature conditions, and the mutation thus also influences the transcription of several cold-responsive (COR) genes. These findings, together with genetic analysis of double mutant and enhanced freezing tolerance of plants illustrate that SWI/SNF CRCs contribute to fine-tuning of plant growth responses to different temperature regimes.