Phosphorylation of histone H4 Ser1 regulates sporulation in yeast and is conserved in fly and mouse spermatogenesis
Year: 2006
Type: preprint
Abstract: Sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a highly regulated process wherein a diploid cell gives rise to four haploid gametes. In this study we show that histone H4 Ser1 is phosphorylated (H4 S1ph) during sporulation, starting from mid-sporulation and persisting to germination, and is temporally distinct from earlier meiosis-linked H3 S10ph involved in chromosome condensation. A histone H4 S1A substitution mutant forms aberrant spores and has reduced sporulation efficiency. Deletion of sporulation-specific yeast Sps1, a member of the Ste20 family of kinases, nearly abolishes the sporulation-associated H4 S1ph modification. H4 S1ph may promote chromatin compaction, since deletion of SPS1 increases accessibility to antibody immunoprecipitation; furthermore, either deletion of Sps1 or an H4 S1A substitution results in increased DNA volume in nuclei within spores. We find H4 S1ph present during Drosophila melanogaster and mouse spermatogenesis, and similar to yeast, this modification extends late into sperm differentiation relative to H3 S10ph. Thus, H4 S1ph may be an evolutionarily ancient histone modification to mark the genome for gamete-associated packaging.
Source: Genes & Development
DOI: 10.1101/gad.1457006
Authors: Thanuja Krishnamoorthy, Xin Chen, Jerome Govin, Wang L. Cheung, Jean Dorsey, Karen Schindler, Edward Winter, C. David Allis, Vincent Guacci, Saadi Khochbin, Margaret T. Fuller, Shelley L. Berger
Institutions: The Wistar Institute, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Inserm, Institut pour l'avancée des biosciences, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson University, Rockefeller University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Embryology
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2135011830