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Molecular and Cellular Biology, February 2005, p. 1041-1053, Vol. 25, No. 3
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.3.1041-1053.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Silencing of Unpaired Chromatin and Histone H2A Ubiquitination in Mammalian Meiosis

Willy M. Baarends,1* Evelyne Wassenaar,1 Roald van der Laan,2 Jos Hoogerbrugge,1 Esther Sleddens-Linkels,1 Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers,2 Peter de Boer,3 and J. Anton Grootegoed1

Department of Reproduction and Development,1 MGC-Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam,2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center St. Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands3

Received 24 May 2004/ Returned for modification 22 July 2004/ Accepted 25 October 2004

During meiotic prophase in male mammals, the X and Y chromosomes are incorporated in the XY body. This heterochromatic body is transcriptionally silenced and marked by increased ubiquitination of histone H2A. This led us to investigate the relationship between histone H2A ubiquitination and chromatin silencing in more detail. First, we found that ubiquitinated H2A also marks the silenced X chromosome of the Barr body in female somatic cells. Next, we studied a possible relationship between H2A ubiquitination, chromatin silencing, and unpaired chromatin in meiotic prophase. The mouse models used carry an unpaired autosomal region in male meiosis or unpaired X and Y chromosomes in female meiosis. We show that ubiquitinated histone H2A is associated with transcriptional silencing of large chromatin regions. This silencing in mammalian meiotic prophase cells concerns unpaired chromatin regions and resembles a phenomenon described for the fungus Neurospora crassa and named meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Reproduction and Development, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-104087976. Fax: 31-104089461. E-mail: w.baarends{at}erasmusmc.nl.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, February 2005, p. 1041-1053, Vol. 25, No. 3
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.3.1041-1053.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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