Dataset Information

Mouse PRDM9 DNA-binding specificity determines sites of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation for initiation of meiotic recombination.

ABSTRACT: Meiotic recombination generates reciprocal exchanges between homologous chromosomes (also called crossovers, COs) that are essential for proper chromosome segregation during meiosis and are a major source of genome diversity by generating new allele combinations. COs have two striking properties: they occur at specific sites, called hotspots, and these sites evolve rapidly. In mammals, the Prdm9 gene, which encodes a meiosis-specific histone H3 methyltransferase, has recently been identified as a determinant of CO hotspots. Here, using transgenic mice, we show that the sole modification of PRDM9 zinc fingers leads to changes in hotspot activity, histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) levels, and chromosome-wide distribution of COs. We further demonstrate by an in vitro assay that the PRDM9 variant associated with hotspot activity binds specifically to DNA sequences located at the center of the three hotspots tested. Remarkably, we show that mutations in cis located at hotspot centers and associated with a decrease of hotspot activity affect PRDM9 binding. Taken together, these results provide the direct demonstration that Prdm9 is a master regulator of hotspot localization through the DNA binding specificity of its zinc finger array and that binding of PRDM9 at hotspots promotes local H3K4me3 enrichment.

SUBMITTER: Grey C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3196474 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mouse PRDM9 DNA-binding specificity determines sites of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation for initiation of meiotic recombination.

Grey Corinne C Barthès Pauline P Chauveau-Le Friec Gaëlle G Langa Francina F Baudat Frédéric F de Massy Bernard B

PLoS biology 20111018 10

Meiotic recombination generates reciprocal exchanges between homologous chromosomes (also called crossovers, COs) that are essential for proper chromosome segregation during meiosis and are a major source of genome diversity by generating new allele combinations. COs have two striking properties: they occur at specific sites, called hotspots, and these sites evolve rapidly. In mammals, the Prdm9 gene, which encodes a meiosis-specific histone H3 methyltransferase, has recently been identified as ...[more]

PMID: 22028627

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Project description:In many mammals, including humans and mice, the zinc finger histone methyltransferase PRDM9 performs the first step in meiotic recombination by specifying the locations of hotspots, the sites of genetic recombination. PRDM9 binds to DNA at hotspots through its zinc finger domain and activates recombination by trimethylating histone H3K4 on adjacent nucleosomes through its PR/SET domain. Recently, the isolated PR/SET domain of PRDM9 was shown capable of also trimethylating H3K36 in vitro, raising the question of whether this reaction occurs in vivo during meiosis, and if so, what its function might be. Here, we show that full-length PRDM9 does trimethylate H3K36 in vivo in mouse spermatocytes. Levels of H3K4me3 and H3K36me3 are highly correlated at hotspots, but mutually exclusive elsewhere. In vitro, we find that although PRDM9 trimethylates H3K36 much more slowly than it does H3K4, PRDM9 is capable of placing both marks on the same histone molecules. In accord with these results, we also show that PRDM9 can trimethylate both K4 and K36 on the same nucleosomes in vivo, but the ratio of K4me3/K36me3 is much higher for the pair of nucleosomes adjacent to the PRDM9 binding site compared to the next pair further away. Importantly, H3K4me3/H3K36me3-double-positive nucleosomes occur only in regions of recombination: hotspots and the pseudoautosomal (PAR) region of the sex chromosomes. These double-positive nucleosomes are dramatically reduced when PRDM9 is absent, showing that this signature is PRDM9-dependent at hotspots; the residual double-positive nucleosomes most likely come from the PRDM9-independent PAR. These results, together with the fact that PRDM9 is the only known mammalian histone methyltransferase with both H3K4 and H3K36 trimethylation activity, suggest that trimethylation of H3K36 plays an important role in the recombination process. Given the known requirement of H3K36me3 for double strand break repair by homologous recombination in somatic cells, we suggest that it may play the same role in meiosis.

Dataset Information

Mouse PRDM9 DNA-binding specificity determines sites of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation for initiation of meiotic recombination.

Publications

Mouse PRDM9 DNA-binding specificity determines sites of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation for initiation of meiotic recombination.

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