spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online September 12, 2006
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/dev.02584


Development 133, 3907-3917 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006


This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bender, L. B.
Right arrow Articles by Strome, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bender, L. B.
Right arrow Articles by Strome, S.

MES-4: an autosome-associated histone methyltransferase that participates in silencing the X chromosomes in the C. elegans germ line

Laurel B. Bender1,*,{dagger}, Jinkyo Suh1,*, Coleen R. Carroll1,*, Youyi Fong1,{ddagger}, Ian M. Fingerman2, Scott D. Briggs2, Ru Cao3, Yi Zhang3, Valerie Reinke4 and Susan Strome1,{dagger}

1 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
2 Department of Biochemistry, Purdue Cancer Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
3 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
4 Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.

{dagger} Authors for correspondence (e-mail: lbender{at}indiana.edu; sstrome{at}indiana.edu)

Accepted 8 August 2006

Germ cell development in C. elegans requires that the X chromosomes be globally silenced during mitosis and early meiosis. We previously found that the nuclear proteins MES-2, MES-3, MES-4 and MES-6 regulate the different chromatin states of autosomes versus X chromosomes and are required for germline viability. Strikingly, the SET-domain protein MES-4 is concentrated on autosomes and excluded from the X chromosomes. Here, we show that MES-4 has histone H3 methyltransferase (HMT) activity in vitro, and is required for histone H3K36 dimethylation in mitotic and early meiotic germline nuclei and early embryos. MES-4 appears unlinked to transcription elongation, thus distinguishing it from other known H3K36 HMTs. Based on microarray analysis, loss of MES-4 leads to derepression of X-linked genes in the germ line. We discuss how an autosomally associated HMT may participate in silencing genes on the X chromosome, in coordination with the direct silencing effects of the other MES proteins.

Key words: C. elegans, MES proteins, Histone methylation, Germ line, X-chromosome silencing




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
C. A. Spike, J. Bader, V. Reinke, and S. Strome
DEPS-1 promotes P-granule assembly and RNA interference in C. elegans germ cells
Development, March 1, 2008; 135(5): 983 - 993.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol. Cell. Biol.Home page
R. Yokoyama, A. Pannuti, H. Ling, E. R. Smith, and J. C. Lucchesi
A Plasmid Model System Shows that Drosophila Dosage Compensation Depends on the Global Acetylation of Histone H4 at Lysine 16 and Is Not Affected by Depletion of Common Transcription Elongation Chromatin Marks
Mol. Cell. Biol., November 15, 2007; 27(22): 7865 - 7870.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Cell Biol.Home page
W. A. Wells and N. LeBrasseur
Cells in the Sun: The American Society for Cell Biology, San Diego, CA, December 9-13, 2006
J. Cell Biol., February 26, 2007; 176(5): 552 - 558.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
T. Takasaki, Z. Liu, Y. Habara, K. Nishiwaki, J.-i. Nakayama, K. Inoue, H. Sakamoto, and S. Strome
MRG-1, an autosome-associated protein, silences X-linked genes and protects germline immortality in Caenorhabditis elegans
Development, February 15, 2007; 134(4): 757 - 767.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006