GC content strongly influences the role of poly(dA) in the intrinsic nucleosome positioning in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACT: The nucleosome is the basic structural element of genomic DNA packaging and plays a role in transcription, replication, and recombination. Poly(dA) tracts are considered major sequence determinants of nucleosome positioning, although their role is not well understood. Here, we show that the homopolymeric character and the low GC content of poly(dA)s play different roles in nucleosome formation. We found that the inherent low GC content of poly(dA) alone can account for the deep and anisotropic nucleosome depletion at structurally and functionally important regions of promoters and origins of replication. We also show that the level of nucleosome occupancy at poly(dA) is strongly related to the local nucleotide background and its high frequency of occurrence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae does

SUBMITTER: Trotta E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9541940 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature