H4 — Zea mays

Summary

ZmH4 (ZM00001EB099930) on maize chromosome 2 encodes a core histone H4 protein, a structural constituent of chromatin with histone-fold and CENP-T/H4 domains. It possesses histone acetylase, deacetylase, methylase, and DNA-binding activities, and is associated with chromatin decompaction, DNA replication licensing, telomeric silencing, mitosis, and secondary shoot formation. The gene is linked to numerous agronomically important traits including grain yield, plant height, flowering time, anthesis time, seed maturation and growth, heterosis, bacterial blight disease resistance, heat and salinity tolerance, leaf and root morphology, shoot branching, and chloroplast development. It localises to the nucleolus, thylakoid, chloroplast envelope, plasmodesmata, and histone-modifying complexes such as TIP60 and SWR-C. Studies of related genes in other species connect the H4 family to circadian rhythm, DNA methylation, and disease resistance.