Transcription in the absence of histone H3.3
- PMID: 19523831
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.048
Transcription in the absence of histone H3.3
Abstract
Di- and trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me2 and H3K4me3) are hallmarks of chromatin at active genes. The major fraction of K4-methylated histone H3 is the variant H3 (termed H3.3 in Drosophila), which replaces canonical H3 (H3.2) in transcribed genes. Here, we genetically address the in vivo significance of such K4 methylation by replacing wild-type H3.3 with a mutant form (H3.3K4A) that cannot be methylated. We monitored the transcription that occurs in response to multiple well-described signaling pathways. Surprisingly, the transcriptional outputs of these pathways remain intact in H3.3K4A mutant cells. Even the complete absence of both H3.3 genes does not noticeably affect viability or function of cells: double mutant animals are viable but sterile. Fertility can be rescued by K4-containing versions of H3.3, but not with mutant H3.3 (H3.3K4A) or with canonical H3.2. Together, these data suggest that in Drosophila, presence of H3.3K4me in the chromatin of active genes is dispensable for successful transcription in most cells and only plays an important role in reproductive tissues.
Comment in
-
Chromatin: sub out the replacement.Curr Biol. 2009 Jul 28;19(14):R545-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.06.032. Curr Biol. 2009. PMID: 19640486 Review.
Similar articles
-
Histone Variant H3.3: A versatile H3 variant in health and in disease.Sci China Life Sci. 2016 Mar;59(3):245-56. doi: 10.1007/s11427-016-5006-9. Epub 2016 Jan 29. Sci China Life Sci. 2016. PMID: 26825948 Review.
-
Transcription in the absence of histone H3.2 and H3K4 methylation.Curr Biol. 2012 Dec 4;22(23):2253-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.008. Epub 2012 Nov 8. Curr Biol. 2012. PMID: 23142044
-
Epigenetic and replacement roles of histone variant H3.3 in reproduction and development.Int J Dev Biol. 2009;53(2-3):231-43. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.082653go. Int J Dev Biol. 2009. PMID: 19412883 Review.
-
Plasticity of histone modifications across the invertebrate to vertebrate transition: histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation in heterochromatin.Chromosome Res. 2005;13(1):57-72. doi: 10.1007/s10577-005-6845-6. Chromosome Res. 2005. PMID: 15791412
-
Histone H3 lysine 4 methylation patterns in higher eukaryotic genes.Nat Cell Biol. 2004 Jan;6(1):73-7. doi: 10.1038/ncb1076. Epub 2003 Dec 7. Nat Cell Biol. 2004. PMID: 14661024
Cited by
-
The Histone Variant H3.3 Is Required for Plant Growth and Fertility in Arabidopsis.Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 22;25(5):2549. doi: 10.3390/ijms25052549. Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38473796 Free PMC article.
-
Methylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 is required to control transposon activities in somatic cells.Life Sci Alliance. 2023 May 11;6(8):e202201832. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202201832. Print 2023 Aug. Life Sci Alliance. 2023. PMID: 37169594 Free PMC article.
-
Developmentally programmed histone H3 expression regulates cellular plasticity at the parental-to-early embryo transition.Sci Adv. 2023 Apr 7;9(14):eadh0411. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adh0411. Epub 2023 Apr 7. Sci Adv. 2023. PMID: 37027463 Free PMC article.
-
Distinct roles for canonical and variant histone H3 lysine-36 in Polycomb silencing.Sci Adv. 2023 Mar;9(9):eadf2451. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adf2451. Epub 2023 Mar 1. Sci Adv. 2023. PMID: 36857457 Free PMC article.
-
H3.3 contributes to chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding at promoter-proximal regulatory elements in embryonic stem cells.Genome Biol. 2023 Feb 13;24(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s13059-023-02867-3. Genome Biol. 2023. PMID: 36782260 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Molecular Biology Databases
Miscellaneous