Histone methylation in transcriptional control

Over the past year or so, methylation of histories has come to be recognised as a major player in the regulation of gene activity. This notion follows the discovery of lysine and arginine methyltransferases and proteins that recognise the methyllysine 'mark' on histories. Methylated histories have been implicated in heterochromatic repression, promoter regulation and the propagation of a repressed state via DNA methylation.