Project description:Photomorphogenesis is a critical developmental process bridging light-regulated transcriptional reprogramming with morphological changes in organisms. Strikingly, the chromatin-based transcriptional control of photomorphogenesis remains poorly understood. Here, we show that both light-induced genes and dark-induced genes were affected in the atino80 mutant. Genome-wide occupancy of the H2A.Z histone variant and levels of histone H3 were reduced in atino80.
Project description:Photomorphogenesis is a critical developmental process bridging light-regulated transcriptional reprogramming with morphological changes in organisms. Strikingly, the chromatin-based transcriptional control of photomorphogenesis remains poorly understood. Here, we show that both light-induced genes and dark-induced genes were affected in the atino80 mutant. Genome-wide occupancy of the H2A.Z histone variant and levels of histone H3 were reduced in atino80.
Project description:Photomorphogenesis is a critical developmental process bridging light-regulated transcriptional reprogramming with morphological changes in organisms. Strikingly, the chromatin-based transcriptional control of photomorphogenesis remains poorly understood. Here, we show that both light-induced genes and dark-induced genes were affected in the atino80 mutant. Genome-wide occupancy of the H2A.Z histone variant and levels of histone H3 were reduced in atino80.
Project description:A cascade of histone acetylation events with subsequent incorporation of a histone H2A variant plays an essential part in transcription regulation in various model organisms. A key player in this cascade is the chromatin remodellling complex SWR1, which replaces the canonical histone H2A with its variant H2A.Z. Transcriptional regulation of polycistronic transcription units in the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei has been shown to be highly dependent on acetylation of H2A.Z, which is mediated by the histone-acetyltransferase HAT2. The chromatin remodellling complex, which mediates H2A.Z incorporation is not known and an SWR1 orthologue in trypanosomes has not yet been reported. In this study, we identified and characterised an SWR1-like remodelller complex in T. brucei that is responsible for Pol II-dependent transcriptional regulation. Bioinformatic analysis of potential SNF2 DEAD/Box helicases, the key component of SWR1 complexes, identified a 1211 amino acids-long protein that exhibits key structural characteristics of the SWR1 subfamily. Systematic protein-protein interaction analysis revealed the existence of a novel complex exhibiting key features of an SWR1-like chromatin remodelller. RNAi-mediated depletion of the ATPase subunit of this complex resulted in a significant reduction of H2A.Z incorporation at transcription start sites and a subsequent decrease of steady-state mRNA levels. Furthermore, depletion of SWR1 and RNA-polymerase II (Pol II) caused massive chromatin condensation. The potential function of several proteins associated with the SWR1-like complex and with HAT2, the key factor of H2A.Z incorporation, is discussed.
Project description:Histone variant H2A.Z is a critical player in setting up the chromatin environment that mediates transcription and other activities on chromatin. However, how H2A.Z is incorporated to specific chromatin regions is not clear. To examine the potential role of sequence-specific transcription factors in targeting H2A.Z, we screened for genome-wide H2A.Z-interacting proteins in vivo using a novel technique called bait Protein-Protein Interaction-sequencing (bPPI-seq). Among the hundreds of H2A.Z-interacting proteins identified by bPPI-seq, we show that a zinc-finger transcription factor, Osr1 interacts with H2A.Z both in vitro and in vivo and co-localizes with H2A.Z on chromatin. Knockdown of Osr1 compromised H2A.Z deposition to hundreds of chromatin sites enriched with Osr1 binding motifs. Furthermore, Osr1 and H2A.Z co-regulate the expression of numerous target genes. These results indicate that Osr1 directly interacts with H2A.Z, mediates its incorporation to a large number of target sites and regulates gene expression. Our data indicate that bPPI-seq can be widely applied to identify unbiasedly interacting proteins under physiologic conditions.
Project description:To investigate how Srcap mutations confer mutant hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) with selective advantage after transplantation We assessed SRCAP chromatin remodeling and corresponding H2A.Z incorporation using Cut-and-run sequencing
Project description:The mammalian circadian clock relies on the master genes CLOCK (CLK) and BMAL1 and drives rhythmic gene expression to regulate biological functions under circadian control. We recently uncovered a surprising disconnect between the rhythmic binding of CLK:BMAL1 on DNA and the transcription of its target genes, suggesting that they are regulated by as yet uncharacterized mechanisms. Here we show that rhythmic CLK:BMAL1 DNA binding promotes rhythmic chromatin opening. The underlying mechanisms include CLK:BMAL1 binding to nucleosomes and rhythmic chromatin modifications, including the incorporation of the histone variant H2A.Z. This rhythmic chromatin remodeling mediates the rhythmic binding of other transcription factors adjacent to CLK:BMAL1, suggesting that the activity and the tissue-specific expression of these other transcription factors contribute to the genome-wide CLK:BMAL1 heterogeneous transcriptional output. These data therefore indicate that the clock regulation of transcription relies on the rhythmic regulation of chromatin accessibility and suggest that the concept of pioneer function extends to acute gene regulation, well beyond the current confines of developmental/cell specification. H2A.Z ChIP-Seq signal in the mouse liver over 6 time points of the 24h light:dark cycle, in wild-type and Bmal1-/- mice. Libraries containing a mononucleosome insert were sequenced using Ilumina HiSeq2000.