Project description:The positioning of nucleosomes within the coding regions of eukaryotic genes is aligned with respect to transcriptional start sites. This organization is likely to influence many genetic processes, requiring access to the underlying DNA. Here we show that the combined action of Isw1 and Chd1 nucleosome spacing enzymes is required to maintain this organization. In the absence of these enzymes regular positioning of the majority of nucleosomes is lost. Exceptions include the region upstream of the promoter, the +1 nucleosome and a subset of locations distributed throughout coding regions where other factors are likely to be involved. These observations indicated that ATP-dependent remodeling enzymes are responsible for directing the positioning of the majority of nucleosomes within the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. Examination of nucleosome positioning in mutants of snf2-related enzymes Other data used in this study are provided in GEO Series GSE31301 and GSE31833.
Project description:Numerous nucleosome remodeling enzymes tightly regulate nucleosome positions in eukaryotic cells. Transcription and statistical positioning of nucleosomes may also contribute to proper nucleosome organization. Individual contributions remain controversial due to strong redundancy of processes acting on the nucleosome landscape. By incisive yeast genome engineering we radically decreased their redundancy. We find the transcriptional machinery to be disruptive of evenly spaced nucleosomes, and proper nucleosome density critical for their biogenesis. INO80 spaces nucleosomes in vivo and positions the first nucleosome covering genes. It requires its Arp8 and Ies2 subunits, but unexpectedly not the Nhp10 module, for spacing. Whereas H2A.Z stimulates INO80 in vitro, its presence is dispensable for INO80 +1 positioning function in vivo. DNA damage, recombination and transposon integration assays suggest that evenly spaced nucleosomes protect cells against genotoxic stress. We derive a unifying model of the biogenesis of the nucleosome landscape and suggest that it evolved not only to regulate but also to protect the genome.
Project description:ATP-dependent nucleosome remodelers of the INO80 family regulate chromatin by sliding, spacing and positioning nucleosomes. The INO80 remodeler is organized into structural modules that regulate its remodeling activity. Here, we investigate the role of the essential Arp5-Ies6 module towards nucleosome positioning and spacing in S. cerevisiae. We show that the Arp5-Ies6 module is critical for establishing genome-wide nucleosome organization. Deletion of IES6 reduces nucleosome spacing by 3 bp and disrupts regular nucleosome arrays across most genes. Surprisingly, deletion of IES6 is synthetic lethal with the deletion of ISW2, a remodeler from the ISWI family, indicating functional redundancy in nucleosome organization. Notably, INO80 binding directly predicts the role of Arp5-Ies6 in nucleosome organization, whereas changes in gene expression do not correlate with altered nucleosome spacing or array regularity. Together, our results highlight the essential role of the Arp5-Ies6 module in INO80-mediated chromatin organization.
Project description:We addressed the roles of three nucleosome spacing enzymes (ISW1, ISW2 and CHD1) in specifying chromatin organization in S. cerevisiae.
Project description:The relationship between chromatin structure and transposable element (TE) integration is a fundamental question as nucleosomes can either mediate or inhibit TE insertion. The Ty1 element in Saccharomyces cerevisiae preferentially inserts upstream of RNA Polymerase III-transcribed genes, in a manner coincident with nucleosome positioning. Ty1 insertion positions have largely been inferred from nucleosome occupancy maps, but this approach is imperfect. Nucleosome occupancy maps are typically generated from wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells grown in standard conditions. Many Ty1 studies rely on a galactose-inducible expression system and it is not yet known if Ty1 overexpression from the GAL1 promoter itself alters nucleosome organization under inducing conditions. Here, we used a galactose-inducible Ty1 expression system and genome-wide MNase-seq to determine whether Ty1 donor plasmid transformation and overexpression alter nucleosome occupancy. We find that changes in carbon source do not substantially alter genome-wide nucleosome organization. In contrast, galactose induction of Ty1 expression revealed time-dependent changes in nucleosome occupancy. Nucleosome organization is unchanged across pre-induction, 6-hour galactose exposure, and post-induction repressing conditions, but nucleosome occupancy shifted at 12 and 24 hours, with changes evident at both Pol II and tRNA genes. We also found that Ty1 integration events are rare at early time points, emerge by 12 hours, and accumulate substantially by 24 hours. Ty1 preferentially targets nucleosomal DNA, but prolonged induction shifts insertion positions relative to nucleosomes. We also find that Ty1 preferentially targets nucleosomal DNA that lies in close proximity to histones, with this preference showing time-dependent shifts during induction.