DNA structural patterns and nucleosome positioning

There is no clear picture to date of the mechanisms determining nucleosome positioning. Generally, local DNA sequence signals (sequence-dependent positioning) or non-local signals (e.g. boundary effects) are possible. We have analyzed the DNA sequences of a series of positioned and mapped nucleosome cores in a systematic search for local sequence signals. The data set consists of 113 mapped nucleosome cores, mapped in vivo, in situ, or in reconstituted chromatin. The analysis focuses on the periodic distribution of sequence elements implied by each of six different published DNA structural models. We have also investigated the periodic distribution of all mono-, di-, and trinucleotides. An identical analysis was performed on a set of isolated chicken nucleosome cores (nucleosome data from the literature) that are presumably positioned due to local sequence signals. The results show that the sequences of the isolated nucleosome cores have a number of characteristic features that distinguish them clearly from randomly chosen reference DNA. This confirms that the positioning of these nucleosomes is mainly sequence-dependent (i.e., dependent on local octamer-DNA interactions) and that our algorithms are able to detect these patterns. Using the same algorithms, the sequences of the mapped nucleosome cores, however, are on average very similar to randomly chosen reference DNA. This suggests that the position of the majority of these nucleosomes can not be attributed to the sequence patterns implemented in our algorithms. The arrangement of positioned nucleosomes seems to be the result of a dynamic interplay of octamer-DNA interactions, nucleosome-nucleosome interactions and other positioning signals with varying relative contributions along the DNA.