Chromatin remodelers clear nucleosomes from intrinsically unfavorable sites to establish nucleosome-depleted regions at promoters.

ABSTRACT: Most promoters in yeast contain a nucleosome-depleted region (NDR), but the mechanisms by which NDRs are established and maintained in vivo are currently unclear. We have examined how genome-wide nucleosome placement is altered in the absence of two distinct types of nucleosome remodeling activity. In mutants of both SNF2, which encodes the ATPase component of the Swi/Snf remodeling complex, and ASF1, which encodes a histone chaperone, distinct sets of gene promoters carry excess nucleosomes in their NDRs relative to wild-type. In snf2 mutants, excess promoter nucleosomes correlate with reduced gene expression. In both mutants, the excess nucleosomes occupy DNA sequences that are energetically less favorable for nucleosome formation, indicating that intrinsic histone-DNA interactions are n

SUBMITTER: Tolkunov D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3113774 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature