GSE16926
ORC precisely positions nucleosomes at origins of replication
The budding yeast genome is marked by 250-350 origins of DNA replication. These origins are bound by the origin recognition complex (ORC) throughout the cell cycle. ORC has known DNA binding sequence preferences which, though necessary for binding, are not sufficient to fully specify a genomic locus as being bound by ORC, indicating that the cell must use additional chromosomal cues to specify ORC binding sites and origins of replication. Using high-throughput sequencing to precisely locate both ORC binding sites and nucleosome locations genome-wide, we find that a nucleosome depleted region (NDR) and precisely positioned nucleosomes are a ubiquitous feature of yeast replication origins. The ARS consensus sequence (ACS) and adjacent sequences are sufficient to maintain the nucleosome-free properties of the NDR.  We use a temperature sensitive ORC1 mutant to demonstrate that ORC is required to maintain precisely positioned nucleosomes at origins of replication. These findings demonstrate the importance of local nucleosome positioning at replication origins, and that chromatin organization is an important determinant of origin selection. Overall design: Examination of nucleosome positioning in wild-type and orc1-161ts mutant S. cerevisiae at room temperature and heatshock temperatures. Examination of ORC binding locations by ChIP-seq. All reported coordinates are based on the SGD genome build released 12/16/2005.