scholarly journals Hyperactivation of the Silencing Proteins, Sir2p and Sir3p, Causes Chromosome Loss

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-614
Author(s):  
Scott G Holmes ◽  
Alan B Rose ◽  
Kristin Steuerle ◽  
Enrique Saez ◽  
Sandra Sayegh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Toxic Effect ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Chromosome Stability ◽  
Chromosome Loss ◽  
Gene Products ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Sir Proteins

The SIR gene products maintain transcriptional repression at the silent mating type loci and telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although no enzymatic or structural activity has been assigned to any of the Sir proteins nor has the role of any of these proteins in transcriptional silencing been clearly defined. We have investigated the functions and interactions of the Sir2, Sir3, and Sir4 proteins by overexpressing them in yeast cells. We find that Sir2p and Sir3p are toxic when overexpressed, while high Sir4p levels have no toxic effect. Epistasis experiments indicate that Sir2p-induced toxicity is diminished in strains lacking the SIR3 gene, while both Sir2p and Sir4p are required for Sir3p to manifest its full toxic effect. In addition, the effects of Sir2 or Sir3 overexpression are exacerbated by specific mutations in the N-terminus of the histone H4 gene. These results are consistent with a model in which Sir2p, Sir3p and Sir4p function as a complex and interact with histones to modify chromatin structure. We find no evidence that toxicity from high levels of the Sir proteins results from widespread repression of transcription. Instead, we find that high levels of Sir2p and/or Sir3p cause a profound decrease in chromosome stability. These results can be appreciated in the context of the effects of Sir2p in histone acetylation and of chromatin structure on chromosome stability.

A haploid affair: core histone transitions during spermatogenesis

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D Lewis ◽  
D Wade Abbott ◽  
Juan Ausió
Keyword(s):  
Histone Modifications ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Diploid Cell ◽  
Histone Variants ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Dna Compaction ◽  
Dynamic Composition ◽  
Shed Light

The process of meiosis reduces a diploid cell to four haploid gametes and is accompanied by extensive recombination. Thus, the dynamics of chromatin during meiosis are significantly different than in mitotic cells. As spermatogenesis progresses, there is a widespread reorganization of the haploid genome followed by extensive DNA compaction. It has become increasingly clear that the dynamic composition of chromatin plays a critical role in the activities of enzymes and processes that act upon it. Therefore, an analysis of the role of histone variants and modifications in these processes may shed light upon the mechanisms involved and the control of chromatin structure in general. Histone variants such as histone H3.3, H2AX, and macroH2A appear to play key roles in the various stages of spermiogenesis, in addition to the specifically modulated acetylation of histone H4 (acH4), ubiquitination of histones H2A and H2B (uH2A, uH2B), and phosphorylation of histone H3 (H3p). This review will examine recent discoveries concerning the role of histone modifications and variants during meiosis and spermatogenesis.Key words: histone variants, histone modifications, chromatin structure, meiosis.

scholarly journals Targeted Recruitment of the Sin3-Rpd3 Histone Deacetylase Complex Generates a Highly Localized Domain of Repressed Chromatin In Vivo

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 5121-5127 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kadosh ◽  
Kevin Struhl
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Histone Deacetylase ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Dna Binding Proteins ◽  
Histone Deacetylation ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Multiprotein Complex ◽  
Eukaryotic Organisms

ABSTRACT Eukaryotic organisms contain a multiprotein complex that includes Rpd3 histone deacetylase and the Sin3 corepressor. The Sin3-Rpd3 complex is recruited to promoters by specific DNA-binding proteins, whereupon it represses transcription. By directly analyzing the chromatin structure of a repressed promoter in yeast cells, we demonstrate that transcriptional repression is associated with localized histone deacetylation. Specifically, we observe decreased acetylation of histones H3 and H4 (preferentially lysines 5 and 12) that depends on the DNA-binding repressor (Ume6), Sin3, and Rpd3. Mapping experiments indicate that the domain of histone deacetylation is highly localized, occurring over a range of one to two nucleosomes. Taken together with previous observations, these results define a novel mechanism of transcriptional repression which involves targeted recruitment of a histone-modifying activity and localized perturbation of chromatin structure.

scholarly journals Role of an ING1 Growth Regulator in Transcriptional Activation and Targeted Histone Acetylation by the NuA4 Complex

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 7629-7640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amine Nourani ◽  
Yannick Doyon ◽  
Rhea T. Utley ◽  
Stéphane Allard ◽  
William S. Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Transcription Regulation ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Histone Acetyltransferase ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Growth Defect ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Phd Finger

ABSTRACT The yeast NuA4 complex is a histone H4 and H2A acetyltransferase involved in transcription regulation and essential for cell cycle progression. We identify here a novel subunit of the complex, Yng2p, a plant homeodomain (PHD)-finger protein homologous to human p33/ING1, which has tumor suppressor activity and is essential for p53 function. Mass spectrometry, immunoblotting, and immunoprecipitation experiments confirm the stable stoichiometric association of this protein with purified NuA4. Yeast cells harboring a deletion of theYNG2 gene show severe growth phenotype and have gene-specific transcription defects. NuA4 complex purified from the mutant strain is low in abundance and shows weak histone acetyltransferase activity. We demonstrate conservation of function by the requirement of Yng2p for p53 to function as a transcriptional activator in yeast. Accordingly, p53 interacts with NuA4 in vitro and in vivo, an interaction reminiscent of the p53-ING1 physical link in human cells. The growth defect of Δyng2 cells can be rescued by the N-terminal part of the protein, lacking the PHD-finger. While Yng2 PHD-finger is not required for p53 interaction, it is necessary for full expression of the p53-responsive gene and other NuA4 target genes. Transcriptional activation by p53 in vivo is associated with targeted NuA4-dependent histone H4 hyperacetylation, while histone H3 acetylation levels remain unchanged. These results emphasize the essential role of the NuA4 complex in the control of cell proliferation through gene-specific transcription regulation. They also suggest that regulation of mammalian cell proliferation by p53-dependent transcriptional activation functions through recruitment of an ING1-containing histone acetyltransferase complex.

scholarly journals High-Resolution Structural Analysis of Chromatin at Specific Loci: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Silent Mating Type Locus HMLα

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 5392-5403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Weiss ◽  
Robert T. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Transcription Start Sites ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Nucleotide Resolution

ABSTRACT Genetic studies have suggested that chromatin structure is involved in repression of the silent mating type loci in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Chromatin mapping at nucleotide resolution of the transcriptionally silent HMLα and the activeMATα shows that unique organized chromatin structure characterizes the silent state of HMLα. Precisely positioned nucleosomes abutting the silencers extend over the α1 and α2 coding regions. The HO endonuclease recognition site, nuclease hypersensitive at MATα, is protected atHMLα. Although two precisely positioned nucleosomes incorporate transcription start sites at HMLα, the promoter region of the α1 and α2 genes is nucleosome free and more nuclease sensitive in the repressed than in the transcribed locus. Mutations in genes essential for HML silencing disrupt the nucleosome array near HML-I but not in the vicinity of HML-E, which is closer to the telomere of chromosome III. At the promoter and the HO site, the structure of HMLα in Sir protein and histone H4 N-terminal deletion mutants is identical to that of the transcriptionally active MATα. The discontinuous chromatin structure of HMLα contrasts with the continuous array of nucleosomes found at repressed a-cell-specific genes and the recombination enhancer. Punctuation at HMLα may be necessary for higher-order structure or karyoskeleton interactions. The unique chromatin architecture of HMLα may relate to the combined requirements of transcriptional repression and recombinational competence.

scholarly journals Effect of histone H4 tail on nucleosome stability and internucleosomal interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy Stormberg ◽  
Sridhar Vemulapalli ◽  
Shaun Filliaux ◽  
Yuri L. Lyubchenko
Keyword(s):  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Nucleosome Assembly ◽  
Dna Templates ◽  
Histone Tails ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Dna Unwrapping ◽  
Nucleosome Stability

AbstractChromatin structure is dictated by nucleosome assembly and internucleosomal interactions. The tight wrapping of nucleosomes inhibits gene expression, but modifications to histone tails modulate chromatin structure, allowing for proper genetic function. The histone H4 tail is thought to play a large role in regulating chromatin structure. Here we investigated the structure of nucleosomes assembled with a tail-truncated H4 histone using Atomic Force Microscopy. We assembled tail-truncated H4 nucleosomes on DNA templates allowing for the assembly of mononucleosomes or dinucleosomes. Mononucleosomes assembled on nonspecific DNA led to decreased DNA wrapping efficiency. This effect is less pronounced for nucleosomes assembled on positioning motifs. Dinucleosome studies resulted in the discovery of two effects- truncation of the H4 tail does not diminish the preferential positioning observed in full-length nucleosomes, and internucleosomal interaction eliminates the DNA unwrapping effect. These findings provide insight on the role of histone H4 in chromatin structure and stability.

scholarly journals Telomere-mediated plasmid segregation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves gene products required for transcriptional repression at silencers and telomeres.

Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
M S Longtine ◽  
S Enomoto ◽  
S L Finstad ◽  
J Berman
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Gene Products ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Telomere Repeat ◽  
Plasmid Segregation ◽  
Repeat Sequences ◽  
Telomere Position Effect ◽  
Mutant Strains

Abstract Plasmids that contain Saccharomyces cerevisiae TG1-3 telomere repeat sequences (TRS plasmids) segregate efficiently during mitosis. Mutations in histone H4 reduce the efficiency of TRS-mediated plasmid segregation, suggesting that chromatin structure is involved in this process. Sir2, Sir3 and Sir4 are required for the transcriptional repression of genes located at the silent mating type loci (HML and HMR) and at telomeres (telomere position effect) and are also involved in the segregation of TRS plasmids, indicating that TRS-mediated plasmid segregation involves factors that act at chromosomal telomeres. TRS plasmid segregation differes from the segregation of plasmids carrying the HMR E silencing region: HMR E plasmid segregation function is completely dependent upon Sir2, Sir3 and Sir4, involves Sir1 and is not influenced by mutations in RAP 1 that eliminate TRS plasmid segregation. Mutations in SIR1, SIN1, TOP1, TEL1 and TEL2 do not influence TRS plasmid segregation. Unlike transcriptional repression at telomeres, TRS plasmids retain partial segregation function in sir2, sir3, sir4, nat1 and ard1 mutant strains. Thus it is likely that TRS plasmid segregation involves additional factors that are not involved in telomere position effect.

scholarly journals SUM1-1: a suppressor of silencing defects in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Genetics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 685-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Laurenson ◽  
J Rine
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Sir Proteins ◽  
Silencer Elements ◽  
Was Gene

Abstract The repression of transcription of the silent mating-type locus HMRa in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the four SIR proteins, histone H4 and a flanking site designated HMR-E. The SUM1-1 mutation alleviated the need for many of these components in transcriptional repression. In the absence of each of the SIR proteins, SUM1-1 restored repression in MAT alpha strains; thus, SUM1-1 appeared to bypass the need for the SIR genes in repression of HMRa. Repression was not specific to the genes normally present at HMR, since the TRP1 gene placed at HMR was repressed by SUM1-1 in a sir3 strain. Therefore, like the mechanisms of silencing normally used at HMR, silencing by SUM1-1 was gene-nonspecific. SUM1-1 suppressed point mutations in histone H4, but failed to suppress strongly a deletion mutation in histone H4. Similarly, SUM1-1 suppressed mutations in the three known elements of HMR-E, but was unable to suppress a deletion of HMR-E. These epistasis analyses implied that the functions required for repression at HMR can be ordered, with the SIR genes and silencer elements acting upstream of SUM1-1. SUM1-1 itself may function at the level of chromatin in the assembly of inactive DNA at the silent mating-type loci.

scholarly journals The SAGA Subunit Ada2 Functions in Transcriptional Silencing

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (22) ◽  
pp. 6033-6045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Jacobson ◽  
Lorraine Pillus
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Histone Acetyltransferase ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Transcriptional Silencing ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Nutrient Signaling ◽  
Subtelomeric Regions ◽  
Inducible Gene

ABSTRACT The cellular role of the Ada2 coactivator is currently understood in the context of the SAGA histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complex, where Ada2 increases the HAT activity of Gcn5 and interacts with transcriptional activators. Here we report a new function for Ada2 in promoting transcriptional silencing at telomeres and ribosomal DNA. This silencing function is the first characterized role for Ada2 distinct from its involvement with Gcn5. Ada2 binds telomeric chromatin and the silencing protein Sir2 in vivo. Loss of ADA2 causes the spreading of Sir2 and Sir3 into subtelomeric regions and decreased histone H4 K16 acetylation. This previously uncharacterized boundary activity of Ada2 is functionally similar to, but mechanistically distinct from, that of the MYST family HAT Sas2. Mounting evidence in the literature indicates that boundary activities create chromosomal domains important for regulating gene expression in response to environmental changes. Consistent with this, we show that upon nutritional changes, Ada2 occupancy increases at a subtelomeric region proximal to a SAGA-inducible gene and causes derepression of a silenced telomeric reporter gene. Thus, Ada2, likely in the context of SAGA, is positioned at chromosomal termini to participate in both transcriptional repression and activation in response to nutrient signaling.

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