The molecular regulation of pear bud dormancy cycle

Bud endodormancy is a complex physiological process that is indispensable for the survival, growth, and development of deciduous perennial plants. The timely release of endodormancy is essential for flowering and fruit production of deciduous fruit trees. A better understanding of the mechanism of endodormancy will be of great help in the artificial regulation of endodormancy to cope with climate change and in creating new cultivars with different chilling requirements. Studies in poplar have clarified the mechanism of vegetative bud endodormancy, but the endodormancy of floral buds in fruit trees needs further study. Our work focused on the change of genome-wide H3K4me3 histone modification during dormancy, mining the genes regulated by H3K4me3 during hibernation, clarifying gene function and analyzing molecular regulatory network. Combining previous studies and our observations, we propose a regulatory model for bud endodormancy that H3K4me3 modification is involved.