ANCHOR, a technical approach to monitor single-copy locus localization in planta

Gene expression is governed by several layers of regulation which in addition to genome organization, local chromatin structure, gene accessibility and the presence of transcription factors also includes gene positioning. Although basic mechanisms are expected to be conserved in Eukaryotes, surprisingly little information on the role of gene positioning is available in plant cells, mainly due to the lack of a highly resolutive approach.

In this manuscript, we adapted the use of the ANCHOR system to perform real-time single-locus detection in planta. ANCHOR is a DNA-labelling tool derived from the partitioning system. We demonstrate its suitability to monitor a single-locus in planta and used this approach to track chromatin mobility during cell differentiation in Arabidopsis root epidermal cells. Finally, we discuss the potential of this approach to investigate the role of gene positioning during transcription and DNA repair in plants.