H2B — Zea mays

Summary

ZmH2B (ZM00001EB177270) on maize chromosome 4 encodes a core histone H2B.2 protein, a structural constituent of chromatin with annotated DNA binding, protein heterodimerization, and multiple chromatin-modifying activities including histone acetylase, deacetylase, and methyltransferase functions. The gene is associated with sister chromatid cohesion, meiotic chromosome separation, spindle assembly checkpoint, DNA replication licensing, and CENP-A-containing chromatin assembly. It is linked to grain length and shape, days to flowering, inflorescence and floral organ development, leaf trichome density and morphology, shoot apical meristem development, responses to aluminum, high temperature, biotic stress, and insect damage, as well as auxin, jasmonic acid, cytokinin, and brassinosteroid content or sensitivity. Localization evidence places the product in chromatin, the centromere complex, nucleolus, and chloroplast thylakoid and envelope. Related genes in other species connect the histone H2B family to centromere identity, haploid induction, and chromosome segregation.