Open AccessRegulation of transcription by H1 phosphorylation in Tetrahymena is position independent and requires clustered sites
Author(s) -
Yali Dou,
Martin A. Gorovsky
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.092029599
Subject(s) - tetrahymena , phosphorylation , microbiology and biotechnology , chromatin , transcription (linguistics) , biology , phenocopy , histone , transcription factor , chemistry , genetics , gene , phenotype , linguistics , philosophy
In Tetrahymena cells, constitutive phosphorylation of histone H1 phenocopies the loss of H1 from chromatin. Regulation of transcription by H1 phosphorylation is achieved by altering the overall charges of a small domain. Here, we further explore the electrostatic properties of this domain and the mechanism by which it regulates transcription. We demonstrate that the regulatory effect of the clustered charges does not require any long-range interaction and is position independent. However, when the same number of charges was dispersed throughout the H1 molecule, the effect became undetectable. The results are explained by a nucleation-propagation model and provide in vivo evidence that the synergy of the clustered positive charges plays a role in histone function and gene regulation.