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Updated: May 19, 2026

Deciphering Molecular Mechanism of Histone Assembly by DNA Curtain Technique
Published on: March 9, 2022
A functional evolutionary approach to identify determinants of nucleosome positioning: a unifying model for
Amanda L Hughes1, Yi Jin, Oliver J Rando
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School,Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Abstract:
Although the genomic pattern of nucleosome positioning is broadly conserved, quantitative aspects vary over evolutionary timescales. We identify the cis and trans determinants of nucleosome positioning using a functional evolutionary approach involving S. cerevisiae strains containing large genomic regions from other yeast species. In a foreign species, nucleosome depletion at promoters is maintained over poly(dA:dT) tracts, whereas internucleosome spacing and all other aspects of nucleosome positioning tested are not. Interestingly, the locations of the +1 nucleosome and RNA start sites shift in concert. Strikingly, in a foreign species, nucleosome-depleted regions occur fortuitously in coding regions, and they often act as promoters that are associated with a positioned nucleosome array linked to the length of the transcription unit. We suggest a three-step model in which nucleosome remodelers, general transcription factors, and the transcriptional elongation machinery are primarily involved in generating the nucleosome positioning pattern in vivo.
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