Transient chromatin compaction in fork restart

The compact state of chromatin induced by the methylation of lysine 9 on histone H3 has long been implicated in a heritable state of transcriptional repression. A study now shows that transient deposition of H3K9me3 helps to stabilize stalled DNA replication forks, while its reversal enables accurate fork restart.

Automated summary

The compact state of chromatin induced by methylation of H3K9 on histone H3 is believed to be involved in heritable transcriptional repression. A recent study reveals that transient deposition of H3K9me3 helps stabilize stalled DNA replication forks, while its reversal allows for accurate fork restart.