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. 1999 May 17;18(10):2836–2844. doi: 10.1093/emboj/18.10.2836

Transcriptional repression of the yeast CHA1 gene requires the chromatin-remodeling complex RSC.

J M Moreira 1, S Holmberg 1
PMCID: PMC1171364  PMID: 10329629

Abstract

In eukaryotes, DNA is packaged into chromatin, a compact structure that must be disrupted when genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II. For transcription to take place, chromatin is remodeled via nucleosome disruption or displacement, a fundamental transcriptional regulatory mechanism in eukaryotic organisms. Here we show that the yeast chromatin-remodeling complex, RSC (remodels the structure of chromatin), isolated on the basis of homology to the SWI/SNF complex, is required for proper transcriptional regulation and nucleosome positioning in the highly inducible CHA1 promoter. In the absence of Sth1p/Nps1p (a homolog of Swi2p/Snf2p) or of Swh3p (a homolog of Swi3p), expression of CHA1 in non-induced cells is increased to a level comparable with that of fully induced cells. Furthermore, in non-induced cells depleted for Sth1p/Nps1p or Swh3p, a nucleosome positioned over the TATA box of the CHA1 promoter is disrupted, an architectural change normally only observed during transcriptional induction. In addition, deletion of the gene-specific activator Cha4p did not affect derepression of CHA1 in cells depleted for Swh3p. Thus, CHA1 constitutes a target for the RSC complex, and we propose that RSC is essential for maintaining a repressive chromatin structure at the CHA1 promoter.

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Selected References

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