Distinct differences in chromatin structure at telomeric X- and Y-elements in budding yeast.
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ABSTRACT: The telomeric repeat sequences (TGTGG) are the same at all chromosome ends, but the number and position of subtelomeric X and Y repeat elements vary. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and genome-wide analyses, we here demonstrate that the subtelomeric X and Y elements have distinct structural and functional properties. Y elements are transcriptionally active and highly enriched in histones, whereas X elements are repressed and completely devoid of nucleosomes. In contrast to X elements, the Y elements lack the classical hallmarks of heterochromatin, e.g. high Sir3 and Rap1 occupancy as well as low levels of histone 4 lysine 16 acetylation, Our analyses refute the idea that subtelomeric silencing is a general phenomenon and suggest that the presence of X and Y elements govern the chromatin structure and transcription activtiy at individual chromosome ends. Keywords: nucleosome position and Histone 4 lys 16 acetylation Chip on CHIP
Project description:The eukaryotic genome is divided into chromosomal domains of heterochromatin and euchromatin. Transcriptionally silent heterochromatin is found at subtelomeric regions, leading to the telomeric position effect (TPE) in yeast, fly and man. Heterochromatin generally initiates and spreads from defined loci, and diverse mechanisms prevent the ectopic spread of heterochromatin into euchromatin. Here, we overexpressed the silencing factor Sir3 at various levels in yeast, and found that Sir3 spreading into Extended Silent Domains (ESD) eventually reached saturation at subtelomeres. We observed that Sir3 spreading into ESDs covered zone associated with specific histone marks in wild-type cells and stopped at zones of histone mark transitions including H3K79 tri-methylation levels. The conserved enzyme Dot1 deposits H3K79 methylation, and we found that it is essential for viability upon overexpression of Sir3, but not of a spreading-defective mutant Sir3A2Q. These data suggest that H3K79 methylation actively blocks Sir3 spreading. Lastly, we demonstrate that our work uncovers previously uncharacterized discrete subtelomeric domains associated with specific chromatin features, that offers a new viewpoint on how to separate subtelomeres from the core chromosome.
Project description:The eukaryotic genome is divided into chromosomal domains of distinct gene activities. Transcriptionally silent chromatin is found in subtelomeric regions leading to telomeric position effect (TPE) in yeast, fly and man. Silent chromatin generally initiates at defined loci and tends to propagate from those sites by self-recruitment mechanisms implying the requirement for processes preventing ectopic spreading of silencing. Barrier elements that can block the spread of silent chromatin have been documented, but their relative efficiency is not known. Here we explore the dose-dependency of silencing factors for the extent of TPE in budding yeast. We characterized genome wide the impact of overexpressing the silencing factors Sir2 and Sir3 on the spreading of Sir3 and its impact on coding and non-coding transcription. We thus reveal that extension of silent domains can reach saturation. Analysis of published data sets enabled to uncover that the extension of Sir3 bound domains stops at zones corresponding to transitions of specific histone marks including H3K79 methylation that is deposited by the conserved enzyme Dot1. Importantly, DOT1 is essential for viability when Sir3 is in excess indicating that this transition actively blocks Sir3 spreading. Our work uncovers previously uncharacterized discrete chromosomal domains associated with specific chromatin features and demonstrates that TPE is efficiently restricted to subtelomeres by the preexisting chromatin landscape.
Project description:Analysis of gene expression changes following deletion of SIR genes at subtelomeric region. A total of 4 samples were analyzed : Wild type (BY4742) strain, SIR2 deletion strain, SIR3 deletion strain, SIR4 deletion strain.
Project description:In the budding yeast, HMR, HML, telomere and rDNA domain are known as a silencing region. Sir2 need to make it at rDNA and, HMR, HML and the telomere need to Sir2, Sir3, Sir4 complex to control internal gene repression. In this report, we found a newly Sir3 binding domain, CN domain (Chromosome New region) 1~14, by the ChIP on chip analysis on S.cerevisiae chromosome. In addition, we also performed ChIP on chip analysis with anti-Sir3 antibody using G1 phase synchronized cell to find Sir3 distribution difference of stage of cell cycle and we found CN15~CN25 which was G1 phase specific Sir3 binding region. Furthermore, we analyzed difference of gene expression at CN region in sir3 strain, and some regions did not change level of gene expression. In the conventional report, Sir3 had recruited by Sir2 and Sir4 on chromosome, but recruit of Sir3 was independent on Sir2 and Sir4 at some CN regions. These data suggested that we found a newly Sir3 function and Sir3 recruited system on chromosome.
Project description:Positive DNA helical stress accumulates in vivo by the unbalanced relaxation of positive and negative DNA supercoils in M-NM-^Ttop1, top2ts, pGPD:TopA yeast cells. The resulting overwinding of DNA greatly diminishes overall RNA synthesis. Here we show that whereas most genes reduce their transcript levels by several fold, genes situated at less than 100 kb from the chromosomal ends (near 15% of the genome) are gradually unaffected. This positional effect denotes that chromosomal ends are topologically open, thus precluding the accumulation of DNA helical stress in telomere-proximal regions. The progressive escape from the transcription stall observed in all the chromosome extremities indicates also that friction restrictions to DNA twist diffusion, rather than tight topological boundaries, suffice to confine DNA helical tension along eukaryotic chromatin. Keywords: Time course of positive helical tension accumulation in absence of telomere silencing. Two-condition experiment: delta top1 delta sir3-TOPA vs delta top1 delta sir3 top2-ts-TOPA. 2 time points: 0min, 120min. 3 biological replicates per condition and time point, independently grown in leu- selective media and harvested.
Project description:Development in higher organisms requires selective gene silencing, directed in part by di-/tri-methylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 (H3K27me2/3). Knowledge of the cues that control formation of such repressive Polycomb domains is extremely limited. We exploited natural and engineered chromosomal rearrangements in the fungus Neurospora crassa to elucidate the control of H3K27me2/3. Analyses of H3K27me2/3 in strains bearing chromosomal rearrangements revealed both position-dependent and position-independent facultative heterochromatin. We found that proximity to chromosome ends is necessary to maintain, and sufficient to induce, transcriptionally repressive, subtelomeric H3K27me2/3. We ascertained that such telomere-proximal facultative heterochromatin requires native telomere repeats and found that a short array of ectopic telomere repeats, (TTAGGG)17, can induce a large domain (~225 kb) of H3K27me2/3. This provides an example of a cis-acting sequence that directs H3K27 methylation. Our findings provide new insight into the relationship between genome organization and control of heterochromatin formation.
Project description:Telomeres and tumor suppressor protein TP53 (p53) function in genome protection, but a direct role of p53 at telomeres has not yet been described. Here, we have identified non-canonical p53 binding sites within the human subtelomeres that suppress the accumulation of DNA damage at telomeric repeat DNA. These non-canonical subtelomeric p53 binding sites conferred transcription enhancer-like functions that include an increase in local histone H3K9 and H3K27 acetylation and stimulation of subtelomeric transcripts, including telomere-repeat containing RNA (TERRA). p53 suppressed formation of telomere-associated γH2AX and prevented telomere DNA degradation in response to DNA damage stress. Our findings indicate that p53 provides a direct chromatin-associated protection to human telomeres, as well as other fragile genomic sites. We propose that p53-associated chromatin modifications enhance local DNA repair or protection to provide a previously unrecognized tumor suppressor function of p53. p53 binding was analyzed by ChIP-Seq in HCT116 cells treated with camptothecin or untreated control.
Project description:The CRISPR-Cas system represents an RNA-based adaptive immune response system in prokaryotes. CRISPRs (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) consist of arrays of short repeat sequences interspaced by non-repetitive short spacers, some of which show sequence similarity to foreign phage genetic elements. Their cistronic transcripts are processed to produce the mature CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs), the elements that confer immunity by base-pairing with exogenous nucleic acids. We characterized the expression and processing patterns of Thermus thermophilus HB8 CRISPRs using differential deep-sequencing, which differentiates between 5’ monophosphate and 5’ non-monophosphate-containing RNAs, and/or between 3’ hydroxyl and 3’ non-hydroxyl-containing RNAs. The genome of T. thermophilus HB8 encodes 11 CRISPRs, classified into three distinct repeat sequence types, all of which were constitutively expressed without deliberately infecting the bacteria with phage. Analysis of the differential deep sequencing data suggested that crRNAs are generated by endonucleolytic cleavage, leaving fragments with 5’ hydroxyl and 3’ phosphate or 2’,3’-cyclic phosphate termini. The 5’ ends of all crRNAs are generated by site-specific cleavage eight nucleotides upstream of the spacer start position, however, the 3’ ends, are generated by two alternative, repeat-sequence-type-dependent mechanisms. These observations are consistent with the operation of multiple crRNA processing systems within a bacterial strain.
Project description:Telomeres constitute the ends of linear chromosomes and together with the shelterin complex form a structure essential for genome maintenance and stability. In addition to the constitutive binding of the shelterin complex, other direct, yet more transient interactions are mediated by the CST complex and HOT1, while subtelomeric variant repeats are recognized by NR2C/F transcription factors. Recently, the Kruppel-like zinc finger protein ZBTB48 has been described as a novel telomere-associated factor in the vertebrate lineage. Here, we show that ZBTB48 binds directly both to telomeric as well as to subtelomeric variant repeat sequences. ZBTB48 is found at telomeres of human cancer cells regardless of the mode of telomere maintenance and it acts as a negative regulator of telomere length. In addition to its telomeric function, we demonstrate through a combination of RNAseq, ChIPseq and expression proteomics experiments that ZBTB48 acts as a transcriptional activator on a small set of target genes, including mitochondrial fission process 1 (MTFP1). This discovery places ZBTB48 at the interface of telomere length regulation, transcriptional control and mitochondrial metabolism.