Histone H2A.Z cooperates with RNAi and heterochromatin factors to suppress antisense RNAs.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic transcriptomes are characterized by widespread transcription of noncoding and antisense RNAs, which is linked to key chromosomal processes, such as chromatin remodelling, gene regulation and heterochromatin assembly. However, these transcripts can be deleterious, and their accumulation is suppressed by several mechanisms including degradation by the nuclear exosome. The mechanisms by which cells differentiate coding RNAs from transcripts targeted for degradation are not clear. Here we show that the variant histone H2A.Z, which is loaded preferentially at the 5' ends of genes by the Swr1 complex containing a JmjC domain protein, mediates suppression of antisense transcripts in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome. H2A.Z is partially redundant in this regard with the

SUBMITTER: Zofall M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746258 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature