Project description:Domains of heterochromatin play important roles in the maintenance and regulation of eukaryotic genomes. However, the repressive nature of heterochromatin combined with its propensity to self-propagate necessitates the existence of robust mechanisms that limit heterochromatin spreading and thereby avoid silencing of expressed genes. A number of specific sequence elements have been found to serve as barriers to heterochromatin spreading; however, the mechanisms by which spreading is curtailed are generally not well understood. Here we uncover a role for PAF complex component Leo1 in regulating heterochromatin cis-spreading. A genetic screen revealed that loss of Leo1 results in spreading of heterochromatin across a centromeric (IRC) boundary element in fission yeast. Similar heterochromatin spreading was seen upon deletion of other components of the PAF complex, but not other factors involved in transcription-coupled chromatin modification, indicating a specific role for the PAF complex in heterochromatin regulation. Loss of Leo1 is associated with reduced levels of H4K16 acetylation at the boundary, while tethering of the H4K16 acetyltransferase Mst1 to boundary chromatin suppresses heterochromatin spreading in leo1? cells, suggesting that Leo1 antagonises heterochromatin spreading by facilitating H4K16 acetylation. Interestingly, Leo1 also regulates heterochromatin spreading independently of boundaries, and loss of Leo1 causes redistribution of heterochromatin, in particular resulting in substantial expansion of telomeric heterochromatin domains. The PAF complex is known to be an important regulator of transcription-related chromatin modifications; our findings reveal a previously undescribed role for this complex in global regulation of heterochromatin spreading in cis. 8 samples: input (whole cell extract) and IP from H3K9me2 ChIP in wild-type and leo1? cells, in duplicate
Project description:Domains of heterochromatin play important roles in the maintenance and regulation of eukaryotic genomes. However, the repressive nature of heterochromatin combined with its propensity to self-propagate necessitates the existence of robust mechanisms that limit heterochromatin spreading and thereby avoid silencing of expressed genes. A number of specific sequence elements have been found to serve as barriers to heterochromatin spreading; however, the mechanisms by which spreading is curtailed are generally not well understood. Here we uncover a role for PAF complex component Leo1 in regulating heterochromatin cis-spreading. A genetic screen revealed that loss of Leo1 results in spreading of heterochromatin across a centromeric (IRC) boundary element in fission yeast. Similar heterochromatin spreading was seen upon deletion of other components of the PAF complex, but not other factors involved in transcription-coupled chromatin modification, indicating a specific role for the PAF complex in heterochromatin regulation. Loss of Leo1 is associated with reduced levels of H4K16 acetylation at the boundary, while tethering of the H4K16 acetyltransferase Mst1 to boundary chromatin suppresses heterochromatin spreading in leo1Δ cells, suggesting that Leo1 antagonises heterochromatin spreading by facilitating H4K16 acetylation. Interestingly, Leo1 also regulates heterochromatin spreading independently of boundaries, and loss of Leo1 causes redistribution of heterochromatin, in particular resulting in substantial expansion of telomeric heterochromatin domains. The PAF complex is known to be an important regulator of transcription-related chromatin modifications; our findings reveal a previously undescribed role for this complex in global regulation of heterochromatin spreading in cis.
Project description:Maintenance of open and repressed chromatin states is crucial for regulation of gene expression. To study the genes involved in maintaining chromatin states we generated a random mutant library using the Hermes transposon mutagenesis system in fission yeast Schizosacchromyces pombe. The silencing of reporter genes inserted in the euchromatic region adjacent to the heterochromatic mating type locus was monitored. We identified Leo1-Paf1, a subcomplex of the RNA Polymerase II Associated Factor 1 Complex (Paf1C), required to prevent spreading of heterochromatin into euchromatin. Through high-resolution genome-wide ChIP (ChIP-exo) we mapped the heterochromatin mark H3K9me2 in leo1∆ cells. Loss of Leo1-Paf1 led to increased heterochromatin stability at several facultative heterochromatin loci. The RNAi machinery is the major pathway for heterochromatin formation in S. pombe. However, small RNA sequencing showed that heterochromatin assembly in leo1∆ cells was RNAi-independent. By examining histone turnover rate in leo1∆ cells, we showed that deletion of Leo1 decreased nucleosome turnover, which led to heterochromatin spreading. Our data revealed that Leo1-Paf1 promotes chromatin state fluctuations by enhancing histone turnover.
Project description:Maintenance of open and repressed chromatin states is crucial for regulation of gene expression. To study the genes involved in maintaining chromatin states we generated a random mutant library using the Hermes transposon mutagenesis system in fission yeast Schizosacchromyces pombe. The silencing of reporter genes inserted in the euchromatic region adjacent to the heterochromatic mating type locus was monitored. We identified Leo1-Paf1, a subcomplex of the RNA Polymerase II Associated Factor 1 Complex (Paf1C), required to prevent spreading of heterochromatin into euchromatin. Through high-resolution genome-wide ChIP (ChIP-exo) we mapped the heterochromatin mark H3K9me2 in leo1∆ cells. Loss of Leo1-Paf1 led to increased heterochromatin stability at several facultative heterochromatin loci. The RNAi machinery is the major pathway for heterochromatin formation in S. pombe. However, small RNA sequencing showed that heterochromatin assembly in leo1∆ cells was RNAi-independent. By examining histone turnover rate in leo1∆ cells, we showed that deletion of Leo1 decreased nucleosome turnover, which led to heterochromatin spreading. Our data revealed that Leo1-Paf1 promotes chromatin state fluctuations by enhancing histone turnover.
Project description:Proteins of the conserved HP1 family are elementary components of heterochromatin and are generally assumed to play a central role in creating a rigid heterochromatic network that is densely packed and inaccessible to the transcription machinery. In this study we demonstrate that the fission yeast HP1 protein Swi6 exists as a single highly dynamic population and rapidly exchanges in cis and in trans between different heterochromatic regions. Binding to methylated H3K9 or to heterochromatic RNA decelerates Swi6 mobility. We further show that Swi6 is largely dispensable to maintain heterochromatin domains. In contrast, our results disclose an unexpected role of Swi6 in demarcating constitutive heterochromatin from neighboring euchromatin. Our results are consistent with a stochastic model of heterochromatin and imply that heterochromatin is permissive for transcription throughout the cell cycle. Rather than promoting maintenance and spreading of heterochromatin, Swi6 appears to limit these processes to ensure that heterochromatin is appropriately confined.