title: Solution-state conformation and stoichiometry of yeast Sir3 heterochromatin fibres.
abstract: Heterochromatin is a repressive chromatin compartment essential for maintaining genomic integrity. A hallmark of heterochromatin is the presence of specialized nonhistone proteins that alter chromatin structure to inhibit transcription and recombination. It is generally assumed that heterochromatin is highly condensed. However, surprisingly little is known about the structure of heterochromatin or its dynamics in solution. In budding yeast, formation of heterochromatin at telomeres and the homothallic silent mating type loci require the Sir3 protein. Here, we use a combination of sedimentation velocity, atomic force microscopy and nucleosomal array capture to characterize the stoichiometry and conformation of Sir3 nucleosomal arrays. The results indicate that Sir3 interacts with nucleosomal arrays with a stoichiometry of two Sir3 monomers per nucleosome. We also find that Sir3 fibres are less compact than canonical magnesium-induced 30 nm fibres. We suggest that heterochromatin proteins promote silencing by 'coating' nucleosomal arrays, stabilizing interactions between nucleosomal histones and DNA.
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Swygert
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, PO Box 875001, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Subhadip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Senapati
authors.affiliation: Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, PO Box 875001, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Parminder
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.affiliation: Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, PO Box 875001, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Borries
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Demeler
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
authors.forename: Craig L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014461:Ultracentrifugation
chemical_list: D006570:Heterochromatin; D009707:Nucleosomes; C084122:SIR3 protein, S cerevisiae; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae