Genome-wide histone acetylation correlates with active transcription in maize

• We investigated H3K27ac in the maize genome.
• Acetylation of H3K27 correlated with active genes.
• H3K27 acetylation was confined to about 0.25% of the genome.

Gene expression is regulated at many different levels during the life cycle of all plant species. Recent investigations have taken advantage of next-generation sequencing to study the relevance of DNA methylation and sRNAs in controlling tissue-specific gene expression in maize at the genome-wide level. Here, we profiled H3K27ac in maize, which has one of the largest sequenced plant genomes due to the amplification of retrotransposons. Because transcribed genes represent only a small proportion of its genome, gene-specific epigenetic modifications are concentrated in a relatively small percentage of the genome. Indeed, H3K27ac marks are mostly in gene-rich, in contrast to gene-poor regions. A large proportion of those marks are located in transcribed regions of genes, including 111 out of 458 known genetic loci. Moreover, increased transcription correlates with the presence of H3K27ac modification in gene bodies. Using maize as an example, we suggest that H3K27ac marks actively transcribed genes in plants.