This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: MCB.01647-07v1 28/6/1924    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Valenzuela, L. Articles by Kamakaka, R. T. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Valenzuela, L. Articles by Kamakaka, R. T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2008, p. 1924-1935, Vol. 28, No. 6
0270-7306/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.01647-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Long-Range Communication between the Silencers of HMR

Department of Pharmacology, 683 Hoes Lane, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854,² Department of MCD Biology, Sinsheimer Labs, 1156 High Street, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064¹

Received 5 September 2007/ Returned for modification 2 October 2007/ Accepted 29 December 2007

Gene regulation involves long-range communication between silencers, enhancers, and promoters. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, silencers flank transcriptionally repressed genes to mediate regional silencing. Silencers recruit the Sir proteins, which then spread along chromatin to encompass the entire silenced domain. In this report we have employed a boundary trap assay, an enhancer activity assay, chromatin immunoprecipitations, and chromosome conformation capture analyses to demonstrate that the two HMR silencer elements are in close proximity and functionally communicate with one another in vivo. We further show that silencing is necessary for these long-range interactions, and we present models for Sir-mediated silencing based upon these results.

Published ahead of print on 14 January 2008.