Single residues in the histone core domain guide transcription

7 février - 14h00 - 15h

Centre de recherche - Paris

Salle P. FAVARD de l'ENS

ENS, 46 rue d'Ulm, Paris 5ème

Description

Nucleosomes, as core unit of chromatin, not only package DNA but have long been thought to suppress transcription by acting as a structural barrier. However, once begun, transcription can readily proceed in the presence of nucleosomes, suggesting this model is insufficient. Here, we establish that the ultra-conserved core domain of the ancestral histone H2A.Z informs transcription elongation via direct interaction of its loop 2 region with the RNA polymerase II complex. Interrogating histone H2A sequences representing more than a billion years of eukaryotic evolution in a single synthetic host, we identify the subunit of the complex that can distinguish even single-residue substitutions defining variants of H2A, and control transcription elongation speed and processivity. Our results place the histone core domain at the origin of eukaryotic gene expression, establishing it as a powerful force shaping transcription.

Organisateurs

Caroline Audouin

Institut Curie

Orateurs

Frédéric Berger

Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology Austrian Academy of Sciences Vienna, Austria

Invité(es) par

Ines Drinnenberg

Institut Curie

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