H4 — Zea mays

Summary

ZM00001EB313720 (ZmH4, H4) on maize chromosome 7 encodes a core histone H4 protein, a structural constituent of chromatin with histone-fold and CENP-T/H4_C domains. The gene product is associated with histone acetylase, deacetylase, methylase, and DNA-binding activities, and with chromatin decompaction, DNA replication licensing, telomeric silencing, mitosis, and seed maturation. ZmH4 is linked to numerous agronomic traits including grain yield, plant height, flowering time, anthesis time, heterosis, bacterial blight disease resistance, heat and salinity tolerance, leaf senescence, shoot branching, root development, and chloroplast development. It localises to the nucleolus, thylakoid, chloroplast envelope, plasmodesmata, and multiple chromatin-remodelling complexes. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to photosynthesis, chloroplast development, and alternative splicing.