scholarly journals Mcm10 Is Required for the Maintenance of Transcriptional Silencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Genetics ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 171 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Liachko ◽  
Bik K. Tye
Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 1205-1219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S Smith ◽  
Carrie Baker Brachmann ◽  
Lorraine Pillus ◽  
Jef D Boeke

Abstract Transcriptional silencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs at the silent mating-type loci HML and HMR, at telomeres, and at the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) locus RDN1. Silencing in the rDNA occurs by a novel mechanism that depends on a single Silent Information Regulator (SIR) gene, SIR2. SIR4, essential for other silenced loci, paradoxically inhibits rDNA silencing. In this study, we elucidate a regulatory mechanism for rDNA silencing based on the finding that rDNA silencing strength directly correlates with cellular Sir2 protein levels. The endogenous level of Sir2p was shown to be limiting for rDNA silencing. Furthermore, small changes in Sir2p levels altered rDNA silencing strength. In rDNA silencing phenotypes, sir2 mutations were shown to be epistatic to sir4 mutations, indicating that SIR4 inhibition of rDNA silencing is mediated through SIR2. Furthermore, rDNA silencing is insensitive to SIR3 overexpression, but is severely reduced by overexpression of full-length Sir4p or a fragment of Sir4p that interacts with Sir2p. This negative effect of SIR4 overexpression was overridden by co-overexpression of SIR2, suggesting that SIR4 directly inhibits the rDNA silencing function of SIR2. Finally, genetic manipulations of SIR4 previously shown to promote extended life span also resulted in enhanced rDNA silencing. We propose a simple model in which telomeres act as regulators of rDNA silencing by competing for limiting amounts of Sir2 protein.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2532-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinaya Sampath ◽  
Peihua Yuan ◽  
Isabel X. Wang ◽  
Evelyn Prugar ◽  
Fred van Leeuwen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Sir3, a component of the transcriptional silencing complex in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has an N-terminal BAH domain that is crucial for the protein's silencing function. Previous work has shown that the N-terminal alanine residue of Sir3 (Ala2) and its acetylation play an important role in silencing. Here we show that the silencing defects of Sir3 Ala2 mutants can be suppressed by mutations in histones H3 and H4, specifically, by H3 D77N and H4 H75Y mutations. Additionally, a mutational analysis demonstrates that three separate regions of the Sir3 BAH domain are important for its role in silencing. Many of these BAH mutations also can be suppressed by the H3 D77N and H4 H75Y mutations. In agreement with the results of others, in vitro experiments show that the Sir3 BAH domain can interact with partially purified nucleosomes. The silencing-defective BAH mutants are defective for this interaction. These results, together with the previously characterized interaction between the C-terminal region of Sir3 and the histone H3/H4 tails, suggest that Sir3 utilizes multiple domains to interact with nucleosomes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 1301-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Gallo ◽  
Daniel L. Smith ◽  
Jeffrey S. Smith

ABSTRACT The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sir2 protein is an NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase (HDAC) that functions in transcriptional silencing and longevity. The NAD+ salvage pathway protein, Npt1, regulates Sir2-mediated processes by maintaining a sufficiently high intracellular NAD+ concentration. However, another NAD+ salvage pathway component, Pnc1, modulates silencing independently of the NAD+ concentration. Nicotinamide (NAM) is a by-product of the Sir2 deacetylase reaction and is a natural Sir2 inhibitor. Pnc1 is a nicotinamidase that converts NAM to nicotinic acid. Here we show that recombinant Pnc1 stimulates Sir2 HDAC activity in vitro by preventing the accumulation of NAM produced by Sir2. In vivo, telomeric, rDNA, and HM silencing are differentially sensitive to inhibition by NAM. Furthermore, PNC1 overexpression suppresses the inhibitory effect of exogenously added NAM on silencing, life span, and Hst1-mediated transcriptional repression. Finally, we show that stress suppresses the inhibitory effect of NAM through the induction of PNC1 expression. Pnc1, therefore, positively regulates Sir2-mediated silencing and longevity by preventing the accumulation of intracellular NAM during times of stress.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 4281-4294 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Chi ◽  
D Shore

Transcriptional silencing in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs at HML and HMR mating-type loci and telomeres and requires the products of the silent information regulator (SIR) genes. Recent evidence suggests that the silencer- and telomere-binding protein Rap1p initiates silencing by recruiting a complex of Sir proteins to the chromosome, where they act in some way to modify chromatin structure or accessibility. A single allele of the SUM1gene (SUM1-1) which restores silencing at HM loci in strains mutant for any of the four SIR genes was identified a number of years ago. However, conflicting genetic results and the lack of other alleles of SUM1 made it difficult to surmise the wild-type function of SUM1 or the manner in which the SUM1-1 mutation restores silencing in sir mutant strains. Here we report the cloning and characterization of the SUM1 gene and the SUM1-1 mutant allele. Our results indicate that SUM1-1 is an unusual altered-function mutation that can bypass the need for SIR function in HM silencing and increase repression at telomeres. A sum1 deletion mutation has only minor effects on silencing in SIR strains and does not restore silencing in sir mutants. In addition to its effect on transcriptional silencing, the SUM1-1 mutation (but not a sum1 deletion) increases the rate of chromosome loss and cell death. We suggest several speculative models for the action of SUM1-1 in silencing based on these and other data.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2889-2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Biswas ◽  
Nazif Maqani ◽  
Ragini Rai ◽  
Srikala P. Kumaran ◽  
Kavitha R. Iyer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcriptional silencing occurs at the cryptic mating-type loci (HML and HMR), telomeres, and ribosomal DNA (rDNA; RDN1). Silencing in the rDNA is unusual in that polymerase II (Pol II) promoters within RDN1 are repressed by Sir2 but not Sir3 or Sir4. rDNA silencing unidirectionally spreads leftward, but the mechanism of limiting its spreading is unclear. We searched for silencing barriers flanking the left end of RDN1 by using an established assay for detecting barriers to HMR silencing. Unexpectedly, the unique sequence immediately adjacent to RDN1, which overlaps a prominent cohesin binding site (CARL2), did not have appreciable barrier activity. Instead, a fragment located 2.4 kb to the left, containing a tRNAGln gene and the Ty1 long terminal repeat, had robust barrier activity. The barrier activity was dependent on Pol III transcription of tRNAGln, the cohesin protein Smc1, and the SAS1 and Gcn5 histone acetyltransferases. The location of the barrier correlates with the detectable limit of rDNA silencing when SIR2 is overexpressed, where it blocks the spreading of rDNA heterochromatin. We propose a model in which normal Sir2 activity results in termination of silencing near the physical rDNA boundary, while tRNAGln blocks silencing from spreading too far when nucleolar Sir2 pools become elevated.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Brothers ◽  
Jasper Rine

ABSTRACTIn Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcriptional silencing at HML and HMR maintains mating-type identity. The repressive chromatin structure at these loci is replicated every cell cycle and must be re-established quickly to prevent transcription of the genes at these loci. Mutations in a component of the replisome, the Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), encoded by POL30, cause a loss of transcriptional silencing at HMR. We used an assay that captures transient losses of silencing at HML and HMR to perform extended genetic analyses of the pol30-6, pol30-8, and pol30-79 alleles. All three alleles destabilized silencing only transiently and only in cycling cells. Whereas pol30-8 caused loss of silencing by disrupting the function of Chromatin Assembly Factor 1 (CAF-I), pol30-6 and pol30-79 acted through a separate genetic pathway but one still dependent on histone chaperones. Surprisingly, the silencing-loss phenotypes depended on ploidy but not on POL30 dosage or mating-type identity. Separately from silencing loss, the pol30-6 and pol30-79 alleles also displayed high levels of mitotic recombination in diploids. These results established that histone trafficking involving PCNA at replication forks is crucial to the maintenance of chromatin state and genome stability during DNA replication. They also raised the possibility that increased ploidy may protect chromatin states when the replisome is perturbed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 7553-7565
Author(s):  
Q Xu ◽  
G C Johnston ◽  
R A Singer

The CDC68 gene (also called SPT16) encodes a transcription factor for the expression of a diverse set of genes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To identify other proteins that are functionally related to the Cdc68 protein, we searched for genetic suppressors of a cdc68 mutation. Four suppressor genes in which mutations reverse the temperature sensitivity imposed by the cdc68-1 mutation were found. We show here that one of the suppressor genes is the previously reported SAN1 gene; san1 mutations were originally identified as suppressors of a sir4 mutation, implicated in the chromatin-mediated transcriptional silencing of the two mating-type loci HML and HMR. Each san1 mutation, including a san1 null allele, reversed all aspects of the cdc68 mutant phenotype. Conversely, increased copy number of the wild-type SAN1 gene lowered the restrictive temperature for the cdc68-1 mutation. Our findings suggest that the San1 protein antagonizes the transcriptional activator function of the Cdc68 protein. The identification of san1 mutations as suppressors of cdc68 mutations suggests a role for Cdc68 in chromatin structure.


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