Polycomb-mediated silencing of the floral repressor gene FLC in response to long-term cold is a central event during vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana, but how it is initiated is unclear. Two new studies identify a DNA element that mediates FLC silencing by attracting a pair of transcriptional repressors, VAL1 and VAL2, which in turn trigger epigenetic silencing by the Polycomb complex PHD–PRC2.
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Li, C., Cui, Y. A DNA element that remembers winter. Nat Genet 48, 1451–1452 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3727
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3727
