Methylation of histone H3 by COMPASS requires ubiquitination of histone H2B by Rad6

Jim Dover, Jessica Schneider, Mary Anne Tawiah-Boateng, Adam Wood, Kimberly Dean, Mark Johnston, Ali Shilatifard*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

451 Scopus citations

Abstract

The DNA of eukaryotes is wrapped around nucleosomes and packaged into chromatin. Covalent modifications of the histone proteins that comprise the nucleosome alter chromatin structure and have major effects on gene expression. Methylation of lysine 4 of histone H3 by COMPASS is required for silencing of genes located near chromosome telomeres and within the rDNA (Krogan, N. J, Dover, J., Khorrami, S., Greenblatt, J. F., Schneider, J., Johnston, M., and Shilatifard, A. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 10753-10755; Briggs, S. D., Bryk, M., Strahl, B. D., Cheung, W. L., Davie, J. K., Dent, S. Y., Winston, F., and Allis, C. D. (2001) Genes. Dev. 15, 3286-3295). To learn about the mechanism of histone methylation, we surveyed the genome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for genes necessary for this process. By analyzing ∼4800 mutant strains, each deleted for a different non-essential gene, we discovered that the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Rad6 is required for methylation of lysine 4 of histone H3. Ubiquitination of histone H2B on lysine 123 is the signal for the methylation of histone H3, which leads to silencing of genes located near telomeres.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)28368-28371
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume277
Issue number32
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 9 2002

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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