title: Linking dosage compensation and X chromosome nuclear organization in C. elegans.
abstract: Animal sex is determined by the number of X chromosomes in many species, creating unequal gene dosage (aneuploidy) between sexes. Dosage Compensation mechanisms equalize this dosage difference by regulating X-linked gene expression. In the nematode C. elegans the current model suggests that DC is achieved by a 2-fold transcriptional downregulation in hermaphrodites mediated by the Dosage Compensation Complex (DCC), which restricts access to RNA Polymerase II by an unknown mechanism. Taking a nuclear organization point of view, we showed that the male X chromosome resides in the pore proximal subnuclear compartment whereas the DCC bound to the X, inhibits this spatial organization in the hermaphrodites. Here we discuss our results and propose a model that reassigns the role of DCC from repression of genes to inhibition of activation.
authors.affiliation: a Cell Fate and Nuclear Organization ; Institute of Cell Biology ; University of Bern ; Bern , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meister
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development / Q000235:genetics; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D063185:Epigenetic Repression; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
keywords: C. elegans; X chromosome; chromatin compaction; dosage compensation; nuclear organization; nuclear pores