GSE128689
Quantitative MNase-seq accurately maps nucleosome occupancy levels
Chromatin mapping using micrococcal nuclease (MNase) has been the standard tool for mapping nucleosomes for >40 years. When coupled with DNA sequencing, MNase-seq can provide base-pair-resolution nucleosome maps. However, determining nucleosome occupancy using MNase-seq has been hampered by its aggressive endo-/exo-nuclease activities, whereby cleavages within linker regions produce oligo- and mono-nucleosomes whereas cleavages within nucleosomes destroy them. Here we introduce a theoretical framework for predicting nucleosome occupancies and an experimental protocol with appropriate spike-in normalization that confirms our theory and provides accurate occupancy levels over an MNase digestion time-course. As expected, DNaseI hypersensitive sites and transcription units are digested by MNase at elevated rates, and the apparent deficiency of nucleosomes at 3' ends of Drosophila genes is an artifact of MNase preference for AT-rich DNA. Surprisingly, we observed no overall differences between Drosophila euchromatin and heterochromatin, which implies that heterochromatin compaction does not render nucleosomal DNA less accessible than euchromatin. Overall design: Quantitative MNase-Seq of Drosophila S2 and Kc167 cells, 6 digestion levels