ABSTRACTNucleosome destabilization by histone variants and modifications has been implicated in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, with the histone variant H2A.Z and acetylation of H3K56 (H3K56ac) being two examples. Here we find that deletion ofSWR1, the major subunit of the SWR1 complex depositing H2A.Z into chromatin in exchange for H2A, promotes epigenetic white-opaque switching inCandida albicans. We demonstrate through nucleosome mapping that SWR1 is required for proper nucleosome positioning on the promoter ofWOR1, the master regulator of switching, and that its effects differ in white and opaque cells. Furthermore, we find that H2A.Z is enriched adjacent to nucleosome-free regions at theWOR1promoter in white cells, suggesting a role in the stabilization of a repressive chromatin state. Deletion ofYNG2, a subunit of the NuA4 H4 histone acetyltransferase (HAT) that targets SWR1 activity through histone acetylation, produces a switching phenotype similar to that ofswr1, and both may act downstream of the GlcNAc signaling pathway. We further uncovered a genetic interaction betweenswr1and elevated H3K56ac with the discovery that theswr1deletion mutant is highly sensitive to nicotinamide. Our results suggest that the interaction of H2A.Z and H3K56ac regulates epigenetic switching at the nucleosome level, as well as having global effects.