Journal
ELIFE
Volume 4, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELIFE SCIENCES PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.05007
Keywords
Epigenetics; Bistability; Sir2; Sir3; Sir4; Histone H3
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM031105, T32 GM007232, 5 T32 GM 7232-34, GM 031105] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Heterochromatin exerts a heritable form of eukaryotic gene repression and contributes to chromosome segregation fidelity and genome stability. However, to date there has been no quantitative evaluation of the stability of heterochromatic gene repression. We designed a genetic strategy to capture transient losses of gene silencing in Saccharomyces as permanent, heritable changes in genotype and phenotype. This approach revealed rare transcription within heterochromatin that occurred in approximately 1/1000 cell divisions. In concordance with multiple lines of evidence suggesting these events were rare and transient, single-molecule RNA FISH showed that transcription was limited. The ability to monitor fluctuations in heterochromatic repression uncovered previously unappreciated roles for Sir1, a silencing establishment factor, in the maintenance and/or inheritance of silencing. In addition, we identified the sirtuin Hst3 and its histone target as contributors to the stability of the silenced state. These approaches revealed dynamics of a heterochromatin function that have been heretofore inaccessible.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available