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Accumulating evidence points toward diverse functions for plant chromatin. Remarkable progress has been made over the last few years in elucidating the mechanisms for a number of these functions. Activity of the histone demethylase IBM1 accurately targets DNA methylation to silent repeats and transposable elements, not to genes. A genetic screen uncovered the surprising role of H2A.Z-containing nucleosomes in sensing precise differences in ambient temperature and consequent gene regulation. Precise maintenance of chromosome number is assured by a histone modification that suppresses inappropriate DNA replication and by centromeric histone H3 regulation of chromosome segregation. Histones and noncoding RNAs regulate FLOWERING LOCUS C, the expression of which quantitatively measures the duration of cold exposure, functioning as memory of winter. These findings are a testament to the power of using plants to research chromatin organization, and demonstrate examples of how chromatin functions to achieve biological accuracy, precision, and memory.

Eukaryotic organisms have the remarkable ability to inherit states of gene activity without altering the underlying DNA sequence. This epigenetic inheritance can persist over thousands of years, providing an alternative to genetic mutations as a substrate for natural selection. Epigenetic inheritance might be propagated by differences in DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, and deposition of histone variants. Mounting evidence also indicates that small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated mechanisms play central roles in setting up and maintaining states of gene activity. Much of the epigenetic machinery of many organisms, including Arabidopsis, appears to be directed at silencing viruses and transposable elements, with epigenetic regulation of endogenous genes being mostly derived from such processes.