title: Highly condensed chromatins are formed adjacent to subtelomeric and decondensed silent chromatin in fission yeast.
abstract: It is generally believed that silent chromatin is condensed and transcriptionally active chromatin is decondensed. However, little is known about the relationship between the condensation levels and gene expression. Here we report the condensation levels of interphase chromatin in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe examined by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Unexpectedly, silent chromatin is less condensed than the euchromatin. Furthermore, the telomeric silent regions are flanked by highly condensed chromatin bodies, or 'knobs'. Knob regions span ∼50 kb of sequence devoid of methylated histones. Knob condensation is independent of HP1 homologue Swi6 and other gene silencing factors. Disruption of methylation at lysine 36 of histone H3 (H3K36) eliminates knob formation and gene repression at the subtelomeric and adjacent knob regions. Thus, epigenetic marks at H3K36 play crucial roles in the formation of a unique chromatin structure and in gene regulation at those regions in S. pombe.
authors.affiliation: 1] Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan [2] Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.affiliation: Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chikashige
authors.affiliation: Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan.
authors.forename: Da-Qiao
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Chizuru
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.affiliation: Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan.
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asakawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-B, Nagatsuda, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: 1] Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan [2] Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Tokuko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haraguchi
authors.affiliation: 1] Advanced ICT Research Institute Kobe, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2, Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Kobe 651-2492, Japan [2] Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.identifier: 0000000194078228
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
mesh_terms: D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin