The characterization of macroH2A beyond vertebrates supports an ancestral origin and conserved role for histone variants in chromatin.

ABSTRACT: Histone variants play a critical role in chromatin structure and epigenetic regulation. These "deviant" proteins have been historically considered as the evolutionary descendants of ancestral canonical histones, helping specialize the nucleosome structure during eukaryotic evolution. Such view is now challenged by 2 major observations: first, canonical histones present extremely unique features not shared with any other genes; second, histone variants are widespread across many eukaryotic groups. The present work further supports the ancestral nature of histone variants by providing the first in vivo characterization of a functional macroH2A histone (a variant long defined as a specific refinement of vertebrate chromatin) in a non-vertebrate organism (the mussel Mytilus) revealing its recr

SUBMITTER: Rivera-Casas C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4939916 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature