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Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2000, p. 7991-8000, Vol. 20, No. 21
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Telomere Folding Is Required for the Stable
Maintenance of Telomere Position Effects in Yeast
Derik
de
Bruin,1
Sara M.
Kantrow,1,
Rachel A.
Liberatore,1 and
Virginia A.
Zakian2,*
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton
University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544,2 and
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology, The
Rockefeller University, New York, New York
100211
Received 1 June 2000/Returned for modification 18 July
2000/Accepted 8 August 2000
Yeast telomeres reversibly repress the transcription of adjacent
genes, a phenomenon called telomere position effect (TPE). TPE is
thought to result from Rap1 and Sir protein-mediated spreading of
heterochromatin-like structures from the telomeric DNA inwards. Because
Rap1p is associated with subtelomeric chromatin as well as with
telomeric DNA, yeast telomeres are proposed to form fold-back or looped
structures. TPE can be eliminated in trans by deleting SIR genes or in cis by transcribing through the
C1-3A/TG1-3 tract of a telomere. We show that
the promoter of a telomere-linked URA3 gene was
inaccessible to restriction enzymes and that accessibility increased
both in a sir3 strain and upon telomere transcription. We
also show that subtelomeric chromatin was hypoacetylated at histone H3
and at each of the four acetylatable lysines in histone H4 and that
histone acetylation increased both in a sir3 strain and
when the telomere was transcribed. When transcription through the
telomeric tract occurred in G1-arrested cells, TPE was
lost, demonstrating that activation of a silenced telomeric gene can occur in the absence of DNA replication. The loss of TPE that accompanied telomere transcription resulted in the rapid and efficient loss of subtelomeric Rap1p. We propose that telomere transcription disrupts core heterochromatin by eliminating Rap1p-mediated telomere looping. This interpretation suggests that telomere looping is critical
for maintaining TPE.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Phone: (609) 258-6770. Fax: (609) 258-1701. E-mail:
vzakian{at}molbio.princeton.edu.

Present address: Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine,
Nashville, TN
37232.
Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2000, p. 7991-8000, Vol. 20, No. 21
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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