Evolutionary-conserved telomere-linked helicase genes of fission yeast are repressed by silencing factors, RNAi components and the telomere-binding protein Taz1.

ABSTRACT: In Schizosaccharomyces pombe the RNAi machinery and proteins mediating heterochromatin formation regulate the transcription of non-coding centromeric repeats. These repeats share a high sequence similarity with telomere-linked helicase (tlh) genes, implying an ancestral relationship between the two types of elements and suggesting that transcription of the tlh genes might be regulated by the same factors as centromeric repeats. Indeed, we found that mutants lacking the histone methyltransferase Clr4, the Pcu4 cullin, Clr7 or Clr8, accumulate high levels of tlh forward and reverse transcripts. Mutations and conditions perturbing histone acetylation had similar effects further demonstrating that the tlh genes are normally repressed by heterochromatin. In contrast, mutations in the RNAi facto

SUBMITTER: Hansen KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1326240 | biostudies-literature | 2006

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature