A novel role for histone chaperones CAF-1 and Rtt106p in heterochromatin silencing

Shengbing Huang, Hui Zhou, Jim Tarara, Zhiguo Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

The histone chaperones CAF-1 and Rtt106p are required for heterochromatin silencing in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although it has been suggested that CAF-1 is involved in the maintenance of heterochromatin silencing, their exact functions during this process are not well understood. Here, we show that CAF-1 and Rtt106p are involved in the early stages of heterochromatin formation. The binding of Sir proteins to telomeric heterochromatin is significantly reduced and, additionally, Sir proteins are mislocalized in cells lacking CAF-1 and Rtt106p. At the HMR locus, CAF-1 and Rtt106p are required for the initial recruitment of Sir2p and Sir3p, but not Sir4p, to the HMR-E silencer, where silencing initiates, as well as the efficient spreading of all of these Sir proteins to the distal a1 gene. Moreover, silencing at the HMR locus is dramatically reduced in cells lacking CAF-1, Rtt106p, and Sir1p. Thus, these studies reveal a novel role for CAF-1 and Rtt106p in epigenetic silencing and indicate that the spreading of heterochromatin, a poorly understood process, requires histone chaperones.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2274-2283
Number of pages10
JournalEMBO Journal
Volume26
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2 2007

Keywords

  • CAF-1
  • Heterochromatin
  • Histone chaperones
  • Rtt106
  • Silencing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Molecular Biology
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology

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