GSE174641
The histone chaperone FACT facilitates heterochromatin spreading through regulation of histone turnover and H3K9 methylation states
Heterochromatin formation requires several steps involving: nucleation followed by spreading of large, silent domains and its faithful re-establishment and maintenance after each replication cycle. The essential histone chaperone FACT has been implicated in heterochromatin silencing, however, little is known about the specificity of FACT in this process. Here, by applying single cell assays, ChIP and genetics, we show that FACT mutants have defects in the spreading of heterochromatin at subtelomeres and mating type locus in fission yeast. Further, we demonstrate that the transition of H3K9me2 to me3 is impaired in the FACT mutant and we link the spreading function of FACT to its role in histone turnover suppression. We also identify Epe1 as a specific factor that counteracts heterochromatin spreading defects in the FACT mutants. Together, our studies identify FACT as a first histone chaperone that promotes heterochromatin spreading and add to the current models on histone turnover in propagation of epigenetic marks. Overall design: ChIP-seq experiments in wild type and pob3? mutant fission yeast.