Project description:This experiment was designed to investigate the epigenetic basis of sex chromosome dosage compensation. Such mechanisms often operate through epigenetic modifications, including histone modifications, which alter chromatin structure and gene expression. In Drosophila melanogaster, dosage compensation is achieved by upregulating the single X chromosome in males through acetylation of histone H4 at lysine 16 (H4K16ac). We therefore used D. melanogaster as a positive control to validate our approach. In contrast, the mechanism of dosage compensation in Bacillus grandii remains unknown. By profiling H4K16ac in this species, we aim to test whether this histone modification may have been convergently recruited to mediate dosage compensation.
Project description:Drosophila X chromosomes are subject to dosage compensation in males and are known to have a specialized chromatin structure in the male soma. We are interested in how specific chromatin structure change contributes to X chromosome hyperactivity and dosage compensation. We have conducted a global analysis of localize two dosage compensation complex dependent histone marks H4AcK16 and H3PS10 and one dosage compensation complex independent histone mark H3diMeK4 in the genome, especially on X chromosome by ChIP-chip approach in both male and female adult flies. We also probed general genomewide chromatin structure by deep DNA sequencing of sheared ChIP input DNA from male and female adult flies.
Project description:Investigate Topo II levels in dosage compensated and non-dosage compensated genes Dosage compensation refers to the equalization of most X-linked gene products between males and females. In Drosophila, it is mediated by the MSL complex that preferentially associates with numerous sites on the X chromosome in somatic cells of males, and is responsible for an enhancement of the transcriptional rate of a substantial number of X-linked genes. Here we show that topoisomerase II (Topo II) is an integral part of the mechanistic basis of dosage compensation and we highlight a novel function for this enzyme. A widely accepted model of transcription postulates that the moving bubble generated by an RNA polymerase elongating complex induces positive DNA supercoiling in the region ahead of the complex and negative supercoiling in its wake. These transitory changes in supercoiling are resolved by the action of topoisomerases. We have investigated the role of Topo II in dosage compensation by RNAi-mediated depletion, and we have used chromatin immunoprecipitation to determine its genomic distribution and relative abundance on X-linked genes. Topo II is enriched on dosage compensated genes and this enrichment is independent from the approximate two-fold enhancement in transcription of these genes. We have demonstrated an RNA-dependent association of Topo II with MLE, the ATPase-helicase subunit of the MSL complex. Our results indicate a role for Topo II that is additional to and different from its function in restoring normal DNA superhelicity during the transcription process. We suggest that the enhanced level of Topo II alters the DNA supercoiling of compensated gene units to facilitate transcription and could provide a basis for the recent report that the MSL complex enhances transcription by increasing the rate of elongation of RNA polymerase II.