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Molecular biology

Genome under surveillance

Nature volume 450, pages 959–960 (2007)Cite this article

Decoding the information stored in DNA requires an intricate balance between processes that turn gene expression on or off. A protein that influences the packaging of DNA regulates this balance genome-wide.

Organisms store instructions for their own existence in DNA. Specific proteins access and read the DNA sequence either to replicate it or to mediate gene expression. But this DNA-reading process is impeded by chromatin — tight packages of DNA and histone proteins that are essential for nuclear compartmentalization of the genome. Strategies for opening chromatin are therefore crucial for basic molecular processes such as gene transcription; this is not to say that restricting access to the genome is less important. On page 1031 of this issue, Whitehouse et al.1 describe an elegant chromatin-based mechanism by which yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells prevent inappropriate transcription.

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Figure 1: The Isw2 protein represses transcription by altering nucleosome positions.

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  1. Karen M. Arndt is in the Department of Biological Sciences, 269 Crawford Hall, University of Pittsburgh, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA. arndt@pitt.edu,

    Karen M. Arndt

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  1. Karen M. Arndt
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Arndt, K. Genome under surveillance. Nature 450, 959–960 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/450959a

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