Project description:Abstract: In the yeast S. pombe, multiple chromatin-modifying enzymes are required for heterochromatin formation, yet how their actions alter chromatin structure to block access to DNAby the transcriptional machinery is unknown. We constructed high-resolution nucleosome occupancy maps of heterochromatic regions in wild-type strains and in mutants lacking the H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4 or one of the two activities of the silencing effector complex SHREC. Fourier analysis reveals that these enzymes do not increase the regularity of nucleosome spacing. Rather, their principal effect was to induce the elimination of nucleosome-free regions (NFRs). Both NFRs associated with transcription initiation sites as well as those not associated with promoters are affected. As in S. cerevisiae, repressed genes in euchromatin retain their NFRs. Thus, NFR elimination cannot be explained as a secondary consequence of repression. The maps also show that TFIIIC boundary elements have NFRs resistant to silencing, suggesting a potential role in preventing lateral spread of heterochromatin. NFR elimination offers a mechanism by which heterochromatin restricts access of the transcriptional machinery to DNA.
Project description:Abstract: In the yeast S. pombe, multiple chromatin-modifying enzymes are required for heterochromatin formation, yet how their actions alter chromatin structure to block access to DNAby the transcriptional machinery is unknown. We constructed high-resolution nucleosome occupancy maps of heterochromatic regions in wild-type strains and in mutants lacking the H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4 or one of the two activities of the silencing effector complex SHREC. Fourier analysis reveals that these enzymes do not increase the regularity of nucleosome spacing. Rather, their principal effect was to induce the elimination of nucleosome-free regions (NFRs). Both NFRs associated with transcription initiation sites as well as those not associated with promoters are affected. As in S. cerevisiae, repressed genes in euchromatin retain their NFRs. Thus, NFR elimination cannot be explained as a secondary consequence of repression. The maps also show that TFIIIC boundary elements have NFRs resistant to silencing, suggesting a potential role in preventing lateral spread of heterochromatin. NFR elimination offers a mechanism by which heterochromatin restricts access of the transcriptional machinery to DNA. Nucleosome positions in either heterochromatin or euchromatin were mapped in various mutants to determine whether chromatin structure is altered upon heterochromatic silencing. Eight strains were assayed for nucleosome positioning in heterochromatin while two strains were assayed for nucleosome positioning in euchromatin. Two biological replicates were assayed for each strain. No dye swaps were done. RNA transcripts were also mapped using the heterochromatin tiling arrays to determine where RNA transcripts accumulate in heterochromatin. Three strains were assayed for transcripts in heterochromatin by hybridizing cy5-labeled cDNA created from total RNA against cy3-labeled cDNA created from RNA synthesized from sonicated genomic DNA. Two biological replicates were assayed for each strain.
Project description:Spt6 is a conserved factor, critically required for several transcription and chromatin related processes. We now show that Spt6 and its binding partner, Iws1, are required for heterochromatic silencing in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Our studies demonstrate that Spt6 is required for silencing of all heterochromatic loci and that an spt6 mutant has an unusual combination of heterochromatic phenotypes compared to previously studied silencing mutants. Unexpectedly, we find normal nucleosome positioning over heterochromatin and normal levels of histone H3K9 dimethylation. However, we also find greatly reduced levels of H3K9 trimethylation, elevated levels of H3K14 acetylation, and reduced recruitment of several silencing factors. Our evidence suggests that Spt6 plays a role at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels; in an spt6 mutant, RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) occupancy at the pericentric regions is only modestly increased, while production of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is lost. Taken together, our results suggest that Spt6 is required for multiple steps in heterochromatic silencing by controlling chromatin, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional processes.
Project description:Hrp3_Purification from Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h- Eukaryotic genome is composed of repeating units of nucleosomes to form chromatin arrays. A canonical gene is marked by nucleosome free region (NFR) at its 5’ end followed by uniformly spaced arrays of nucleosomes. In fission yeast we show both biochemically and in vivo that both Hrp1 and Hrp3 are key determinants of uniform spacing of genic arrays.
Project description:In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway is required to generate small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that mediate heterochromatic silencing of centromeric repeats. Here we demonstrate that RNAi also functions to repress genomic elements other than constitutive heterochromatin. Using DamID (DNA adenine methyltransferase identification) we show that Dcr1 and Rdp1 physically associate with some euchromatic genes, non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes, and retrotransposon long terminal repeats (LTRs), and that this association is independent of the Clr4 histone methyltransferase. Physical association of RNAi with chromatin is sufficient to trigger a silencing response but not to assemble heterochromatin. The mode of silencing at the newly identified RNAi targets is consistent with a co-transcriptional gene silencing model as proposed earlier and functions with trace amounts of siRNAs. We anticipate that similar mechanisms could also be operational in other eukaryotes.
Project description:Clustered regulatory signals at nucleosome-depleted regions punctuate a constant nucleosomal landscape in Schizosaccharomyces pombe [Affymetrix]
Project description:Clustered regulatory signals at nucleosome-depleted regions punctuate a constant nucleosomal landscape in Schizosaccharomyces pombe [NGS_Illumina]
Project description:RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene silencing mechanism conserved from fungi to mammals. Small interfering RNAs are products and mediators of the RNAi pathway and act as specificity factors in recruiting effector complexes. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome encodes one of each of the core RNAi proteins, Dicer, Argonaute and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (dcr1, ago1, rdp1). Even though the function of RNAi in heterochromatin assembly in S. pombe is established, its role in controlling gene expression is elusive. Here, we report the identification of small RNAs mapped anti-sense to protein coding genes in fission yeast. We demonstrate that these genes are up-regulated at the protein level in RNAi mutants, while their mRNA levels are not significantly changed. We show that the repression by RNAi is not a result of heterochromatin formation. Thus, we conclude that RNAi is involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing in S. pombe.