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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2000, p. 9423-9433, Vol. 20, No. 24
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Isolation and Characterization of Suv39h2, a Second Histone H3 Methyltransferase Gene That Displays Testis-Specific Expression

Dónal O'Carroll,1 Harry Scherthan,2 Antoine H. F. M. Peters,1 Susanne Opravil,1 Andrew R. Haynes,3 Götz Laible,1,dagger Stephen Rea,1 Manfred Schmid,1 Angelika Lebersorger,1 Martin Jerratsch,2 Lydia Sattler,4 Marie G. Mattei,5 Paul Denny,3 Stephen D. M. Brown,3 Dieter Schweizer,4 and Thomas Jenuwein1,*

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology at The Vienna Biocenter,1 and Institute of Botany, University of Vienna,4 A-1030 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Human Biology, University of Kaiserslautern, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany2; Mouse Genome Centre and Mammalian Genetics Unit, Medical Research Council, Harwell, Oxon OX11 ORD, United Kingdom3; and INSERM U406, Génétique Médicale et Développement, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France5

Received 26 September 2000/Accepted 28 September 2000

Higher-order chromatin has been implicated in epigenetic gene control and in the functional organization of chromosomes. We have recently discovered mouse (Suv39h1) and human (SUV39H1) histone H3 lysine 9-selective methyltransferases (Suv39h HMTases) and shown that they modulate chromatin dynamics in somatic cells. We describe here the isolation, chromosomal assignment, and characterization of a second murine gene, Suv39h2. Like Suv39h1, Suv39h2 encodes an H3 HMTase that shares 59% identity with Suv39h1 but which differs by the presence of a highly basic N terminus. Using fluorescent in situ hybridization and haplotype analysis, the Suv39h2 locus was mapped to the subcentromeric region of mouse chromosome 2, whereas the Suv39h1 locus resides at the tip of the mouse X chromosome. Notably, although both Suv39h loci display overlapping expression profiles during mouse embryogenesis, Suv39h2 transcripts remain specifically expressed in adult testes. Immunolocalization of Suv39h2 protein during spermatogenesis indicates enriched distribution at the heterochromatin from the leptotene to the round spermatid stage. Moreover, Suv39h2 specifically accumulates with chromatin of the sex chromosomes (XY body) which undergo transcriptional silencing during the first meiotic prophase. These data are consistent with redundant enzymatic roles for Suv39h1 and Suv39h2 during mouse development and suggest an additional function of the Suv39h2 HMTase in organizing meiotic heterochromatin that may even impart an epigenetic imprint to the male germ line.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology at the Vienna Biocenter, Dr. Bohrgasse 7, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. Phone: (43/1) 797-30-474. Fax: (43/1) 798-7153. E-mail: jenuwein{at}nt.imp.univie.ac.at.

dagger Present address: Dairy Science Group, AgResearch, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2000, p. 9423-9433, Vol. 20, No. 24
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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