Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: RNAi and Heterochromatin--a Hushed-Up Affair
Robin Allshire
Sometimes it is necessary to silence genes, a process that involves shutting down regions of active chromatin. Genes can be silenced by methylation of lysine 9 in histone H3 of chromatin, but RNAi also turns out to be important in chromatin-based gene silencing. In a Perspective, Robin Allshire discusses new work (Volpeet al.) that shows how RNAi is able to shut down chromatin in fission yeast by promoting H3 lysine 9 methylation, perhaps by altering the recruitment of enzymes that methylate DNA and histones.
The author is at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK. E-mail: robin.allshire{at}ed.ac.uk.
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Thomas A. Volpe, Catherine Kidner, Ira M. Hall, Grace Teng, Shiv I. S. Grewal, and Robert A. Martienssen (13 September 2002) Science297 (5588), 1833.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1074973] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supporting Online Material »
BREVIA
Brenda J. Reinhart and David P. Bartel (13 September 2002) Science297 (5588), 1831.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1077183] |Full Text »|PDF »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Heritable Gene Repression through the Action of a Directed DNA Methyltransferase at a Chromosomal Locus.
A. E. Smith, P. J. Hurd, A. J. Bannister, T. Kouzarides, and K. G. Ford (2008)
J. Biol. Chem.
283, 9878-9885
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Analysis of Drosophila Species Genome Size and Satellite DNA Content Reveals Significant Differences Among Strains as Well as Between Species.
G. Bosco, P. Campbell, J. T. Leiva-Neto, and T. A. Markow (2007)
Genetics
177, 1277-1290
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Accumulation of small murine minor satellite transcripts leads to impaired centromeric architecture and function.
H. Bouzinba-Segard, A. Guais, and C. Francastel (2006)
PNAS
103, 8709-8714
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Turnover and Function of Noncoding RNA Polymerase II Transcripts.
M.J. DYE, N. GROMAK, D. HAUSSECKER, S. WEST, and N.J. PROUDFOOT (2006)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol
71, 275-284
|Abstract »|PDF »
Role of Protein Methylation in Regulation of Transcription.
D. Y. Lee, C. Teyssier, B. D. Strahl, and M. R. Stallcup (2005)
Endocr. Rev.
26, 147-170
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Effects of Length and Location on the Cellular Response to Double-Stranded RNA.
Q. Wang and G. G. Carmichael (2004)
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
68, 432-452
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Ago1 and Dcr1, Two Core Components of the RNA Interference Pathway, Functionally Diverge from Rdp1 in Regulating Cell Cycle Events in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
J. B. Carmichael, P. Provost, K. Ekwall, and T. C. Hobman (2004)
Mol. Biol. Cell
15, 1425-1435
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Heterochromatic Silencing and HP1 Localization in Drosophila Are Dependent on the RNAi Machinery.
M. Pal-Bhadra, B. A. Leibovitch, S. G. Gandhi, M. Rao, U. Bhadra, J. A. Birchler, and S. C. R. Elgin (2004)
Science
303, 669-672
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
RNA Interference: Biology, Mechanism, and Applications.
N. Agrawal, P. V. N. Dasaradhi, A. Mohmmed, P. Malhotra, R. K. Bhatnagar, and S. K. Mukherjee (2003)
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
67, 657-685
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Perturbations of chromatin structure in human genetic disease: recent advances.
W. A. Bickmore and S. M. van der Maarel (2003)
Hum. Mol. Genet.
12, R207-213
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
