Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: gene of yeast in a transcriptionally repressed state was transcribed with 12 pure proteins (80 polypeptides): RNA polymerase II, six general transcription factors, TFIIS, the Pho4 gene activator protein, and the SAGA, SWI/SNF, and Mediator complexes. Contrary to expectation, a nucleosome occluding the TATA box and transcription start sites did not impede transcription but rather, enhanced it: the level of chromatin transcription was at least sevenfold greater than that of naked DNA, and chromatin gave patterns of transcription start sites closely similar to those occurring in vivo, whereas naked DNA gave many aberrant transcripts. Both histone acetylation and trimethylation of H3K4 (H3K4me3) were important for chromatin transcription. The nucleosome, long known to serve as a general gene repressor, thus also performs an important positive role in transcription.
Institutions: Stanford Medicine, Stanford University
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Kanae Foundation for the Promotion of Medical Science, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
OpenAlex ID: W2582006318