1. Histone variant H2A.Z regulates zygotic genome activation
- Author
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Alejandro Gomez-Auli, Nicola Iovino, Michael Rauer, Dafne Ibarra-Morales, Mariana Schulte-Sasse, Francesco Cardamone, Leily Rabbani, Piergiuseppe Quarato, Fides Zenk, Germano Cecere, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (MPI-IE), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Mécanismes de l'Hérédité épigénétique / Mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance, Institut Pasteur [Paris]-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL, and Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
- Subjects
Epigenomics ,Male ,Zygote ,MESH: Drosophila ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,MESH: Epigenomics ,General Physics and Astronomy ,RNA polymerase II ,Genome ,MESH: Down-Regulation ,Histones ,0302 clinical medicine ,MESH: Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,MESH: Embryonic Development ,MESH: Animals ,Histone variants ,Adenosine Triphosphatases ,MESH: Histones ,0303 health sciences ,Genes, Essential ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,MESH: Histone Chaperones ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Chromatin ,Cell biology ,Housekeeping gene ,Histone ,Gene Knockdown Techniques ,Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing ,MESH: Cell Division ,Drosophila ,Female ,RNA Polymerase II ,MESH: Transcription Initiation Site ,Transcription Initiation Site ,MESH: Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing ,Cell Division ,Transcriptional Activation ,Epigenetic memory ,animal structures ,Science ,Down-Regulation ,Embryonic Development ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,MESH: Chromatin ,03 medical and health sciences ,MESH: Adenosine Triphosphatases ,Animals ,Histone Chaperones ,MESH: Genome ,Gene ,MESH: Genes, Essential ,030304 developmental biology ,Pioneer factor ,General Chemistry ,MESH: Gene Knockdown Techniques ,MESH: Male ,MESH: RNA Polymerase II ,biology.protein ,MESH: Transcriptional Activation ,Maternal to zygotic transition ,MESH: Zygote ,MESH: Female ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
During embryogenesis, the genome shifts from transcriptionally quiescent to extensively active in a process known as Zygotic Genome Activation (ZGA). In Drosophila, the pioneer factor Zelda is known to be essential for the progression of development; still, it regulates the activation of only a small subset of genes at ZGA. However, thousands of genes do not require Zelda, suggesting that other mechanisms exist. By conducting GRO-seq, HiC and ChIP-seq in Drosophila embryos, we demonstrate that up to 65% of zygotically activated genes are enriched for the histone variant H2A.Z. H2A.Z enrichment precedes ZGA and RNA Polymerase II loading onto chromatin. In vivo knockdown of maternally contributed Domino, a histone chaperone and ATPase, reduces H2A.Z deposition at transcription start sites, causes global downregulation of housekeeping genes at ZGA, and compromises the establishment of the 3D chromatin structure. We infer that H2A.Z is essential for the de novo establishment of transcriptional programs during ZGA via chromatin reorganization., Nature Communications, 12 (1), ISSN:2041-1723
- Published
- 2021
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