Silencing and heritable domains of gene expression.
Silencing is a process that assembles particular regions of eukaryotic chromosomes into transcriptionally inactive chromatin structures. Silencing involves specialized regulatory sites known as silencers and a combination of general DNA-binding proteins and proteins dedicated to silencing. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, these proteins include transcription factors and the origin recognition complex (ORC). Silencing has three recognizably separate phases: establishment, maintenance, and inheritance. At least some silencers are origins of replication, and the establishment of the silenced state requires an S phase-specific event. Once established, the silenced state is heritable, even in the absence of proteins required for its establishment. The silencing of mating-type genes bears many similarities to telomere position effects, and the two processes require many of the same proteins.
Loo
S
S
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkley 94720, USA.
Rine
J
J
D000483:Alleles; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology; D004261:DNA Replication; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D000072235:Mating Factor; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010675:Pheromones; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016615:Telomere; D020668:rap GTP-Binding Proteins
D002843:Chromatin; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006657:Histones; D010455:Peptides; D010675:Pheromones; D000072235:Mating Factor; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D020668:rap GTP-Binding Proteins