Transcriptome analysis of suf4Ri-1 mutant

The different genome-wide distributions of tri-methylation at H3K36 (H3K36me3) in various species suggest diverse mechanisms for H3K36me3 establishment during evolution. Here, we showed that the transcription factor OsSUF4 recognizes a specific 7-bp DNA element, broadly distributed throughout the rice genome, and recruits the H3K36 methyltransferase SDG725 to target a set of genes including the key florigen gene RFT1 and Hd3a to promote flowering in rice. Biochemical and structural analyses indicated that several positive residues within the zinc finger domain are vital for OsSUF4 function in planta. Our results reveal the regulatory mechanism by which H3K36me3 establishes close to gene promoter regions in plants.