Quantitative test of the barrier nucleosome model for statistical positioning of nucleosomes up- and downstream of transcription start sites.

ABSTRACT: The positions of nucleosomes in eukaryotic genomes determine which parts of the DNA sequence are readily accessible for regulatory proteins and which are not. Genome-wide maps of nucleosome positions have revealed a salient pattern around transcription start sites, involving a nucleosome-free region (NFR) flanked by a pronounced periodic pattern in the average nucleosome density. While the periodic pattern clearly reflects well-positioned nucleosomes, the positioning mechanism is less clear. A recent experimental study by Mavrich et al. argued that the pattern observed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is qualitatively consistent with a "barrier nucleosome model," in which the oscillatory pattern is created by the statistical positioning mechanism of Kornberg and Stryer. On the other hand, there

SUBMITTER: Mobius W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2924246 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature