Effects of Chromatin Structure Modifiers on the trans-Acting Heterochromatin Position Effect in Drosophila melanogaster.

The heterochromatin position effect is manifested in the inactivation of euchromatin genes transferred to heterochromatin. In chromosomal rearrangements, genes located near the new eu-heterochromatin boundary in the rearrangement (cis-inactivation) and, in rare cases, genes of a region of the normal chromosome homologous to the region of the eu-heterochromatin boundary of the chromosome with the rearrangement (trans-inactivation) are subject to inactivation. The In(2)A4 inversion is able to trans-inactivate the UAS-eGFP reporter gene located on the normal chromosome. We knockdown a number of chromatin proteins using temperature-controlled RNA interference and investigated the effect of knockdown on trans-inactivation of the reporter. We found suppression of trans-inactivation by knockdowns of Su(var)2-HP2, a protein that binds to the key heterochromatin protein HP1a, SAYP, a subunit of the chromatin remodelling complex, and Eggless histone methyltransferase (SETDB1), which introduces a H3K9me3 histone mark, recognized by the HP1a protein. The method of studying the effects of gene knockdown on heterochromatin position effects presented in this work is of independent methodological interest.

High Level of Gene Transcription at the Embryonic Stage Leads to the Suppression of Heterochromatic Trans-Inactivation in Drosophila melanogaster Adults.

In some cases, gene transfer from euchromatin to constitutive heterochromatin as a result of chromosomal rearrangement is accompanied by epigenetic inactivation of this gene (cis-inactivation). In the case of trans-inactivation, transgenes in the normal chromosome are repressed by the cis-inactivation-causing rearranged homologous chromosome. Trans-inactivation is a result of the somatic pairing of homologs and the transfer of the normal chromosomal segment to the heterochromatic compartment of the nucleus. Previously, we have shown that the degree of trans-inactivation of the UAS-eGFP reporter gene in adult flies depends on its transcription level that can be regulated by temperature using the GAL4 transcription activator and its temperature-sensitive inhibitor GAL80ts. In this paper, we investigated the epigenetic inheritance of the active/repressed state of the trans-inactivated reporter gene at different expression levels by measuring eGFP fluorescence in the individual cells of Malpighian tubules in adult flies. High expression levels at the embryonic stage protected the eGFP gene from trans-inactivation in adult flies. The activated state was inherited over the entire period of development and differentiation, while the activating effect of GAL4 was turned off.

Regulated Gene Expression as a Tool for Analysis of Heterochromatin Position Effect in Drosophila.

Position effect variegation (PEV) is a perturbation of genes expression resulting from the changes in their chromatin organization due to the abnormal juxtaposition with heterochromatin. The exact molecular mechanisms of PEV remain enigmatic in spite of the long history of PEV studies. Here, we developed a genetic model consisting of PEV-inducing chromosome rearrangement and a reporter gene under control of the UAS regulatory element. Expression of the reporter gene could be regulated by adjustment of the GAL4 transactivator activity. Two UAS-based systems of expression control were tested - with thermosensitive GAL4 repressor GAL80ts and GAL4-based artificial transactivator GeneSwitch. Both systems were able to regulate the expression of the UAS-controlled reporter gene over a wide range, but GAL80ts repressed the reporter gene more efficiently. Measurements of the heterochromatin-mediated repression of the reporter gene in the GAL4+GAL80ts system point to the existence of a threshold level of expression, above which no PEV is observed.

Genetic Organization of Open Chromatin Domains Situated in Polytene Chromosome Interbands in Drosophila.

New data on the organization of genes entirely located in the open domains for chromatin transcription and occupying only one chromosome structure (interband) were obtained. The characteristic features of these genes are the small size (on average, 1-2 kb), depletion of the replicative complex proteins in the regulatory region, and the presence of specific motifs for binding transcription factors, as compared to the genes occupying two structures (interband and gray band). The biological function of these genes is associated primarily with the processes of gene expression and RNA metabolism.

Drosophila polytene chromosome bands formed by gene introns.

Genetic organization of bands and interbands in polytene chromosomes has long remained a puzzle for geneticists. It has been recently demonstrated that interbands typically correspond to the 5'-ends of house-keeping genes, whereas adjacent loose bands tend to be composed of coding sequences of the genes. In the present work, we made one important step further and mapped two large introns of ubiquitously active genes on the polytene chromosome map. We show that alternative promoter regions of these genes map to interbands, whereas introns and coding sequences found between those promoters correspond to loose grey bands. Thus, a gene having its long intron "sandwiched" between to alternative promoters and a common coding sequence may occupy two interbands and one band in the context of polytene chromosomes. Loose, partially decompacted bands appear to host large introns.

[Correlation on a cellular level of gene transcriptional silencing and heterochromatin compartment dragging in case of PEV-producing eu-heterochromatin rearrangement in Drosophila melanogaster].

Eu-heterochromatic rearrangements transfer genes into the heterochromatin and cause their variegated inactivation (PEV). Genes affected by PEV often demonstrate association with heterochromatic nuclear compartment (a distinct area composed of heterochromatin sequences like satellite DNA and enriched in specific chromatin proteins e.g. HP1). Here, we investigate the nuclear localization and the expression levels of the genes subjected to PEV caused by chromosome inversion, In(2)A4. We demonstrate that the degree of PEV-caused gene inactivation depends on a developmental stage, and the maximum of repression corresponds to the gene expression activation period. In the case of In(2)A4 rearrangement we detect the dragging of affected euchromatic region into heterochromatic nuclear compartment and the increase in HP1 occupancy in this region. We developed a protocol of simultaneous RNA-DNA-protein staining to demonstrate firstly in a single cell a strong correlation between transcriptional activity of affected gene and its distance from chromosome 2 satellite DNA.

The B-type lamin is required for somatic repression of testis-specific gene clusters.

Large clusters of coexpressed tissue-specific genes are abundant on chromosomes of diverse species. The genes coordinately misexpressed in diverse diseases are also found in similar clusters, suggesting that evolutionarily conserved mechanisms regulate expression of large multigenic regions both in normal development and in its pathological disruptions. Studies on individual loci suggest that silent clusters of coregulated genes are embedded in repressed chromatin domains, often localized to the nuclear periphery. To test this model at the genome-wide scale, we studied transcriptional regulation of large testis-specific gene clusters in somatic tissues of Drosophila. These gene clusters showed a drastic paucity of known expressed transgene insertions, indicating that they indeed are embedded in repressed chromatin. Bioinformatics analysis suggested the major role for the B-type lamin, LamDm(o), in repression of large testis-specific gene clusters, showing that in somatic cells as many as three-quarters of these clusters interact with LamDm(o). Ablation of LamDm(o) by using mutants and RNAi led to detachment of testis-specific clusters from nuclear envelope and to their selective transcriptional up-regulation in somatic cells, thus providing the first direct evidence for involvement of the B-type lamin in tissue-specific gene repression. Finally, we found that transcriptional activation of the lamina-bound testis-specific gene cluster in male germ line is coupled with its translocation away from the nuclear envelope. Our studies, which directly link nuclear architecture with coordinated regulation of tissue-specific genes, advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying both normal cell differentiation and developmental disorders caused by lesions in the B-type lamins and interacting proteins.

[Distorted heterochromatin replication in Drosophila melanogaster polytene chromosomes as a result of euchromatin-heterochromatin rearrangements].

Studies of the position effect resulting from chromosome rearrangements in Drosophila melanogaster have shown that replication distortions in polytene chromosomes correlate with heritable gene silencing in mitotic cells. Earlier studies mostly focused on the effects of euchromatin--heterochromatin rearrangements on replication and silencing of euchromatic regions adjacent to the heterochromatin breakpoint. This review is based on published original data and considers the effect of rearrangements on heterochromatin: heterochromatin blocks that are normally underrepresented or underreplicated in polytene chromosomes are restored. Euchromatin proved to affect heterochromatin, preventing its underreplication. The effect is opposite to the known inactivation effect, which extends from heterochromatin to euchromatin. The trans-action of heterochromatin blocks on replication of heterochromatin placed within euchromatin is discussed. Distortions of heterochromatin replication in polytene chromosomes are considered to be an important characteristic associated with the functional role of the corresponding genome regions.

Vinculin gene is non-essential in Drosophila melanogaster.

Vinculin is thought to be an important cytoskeletal protein in the linkage between actin cytoskeleton and integrin transmembrane receptors. We identified Vinculin (Vinc) gene in the X chromosome of D. melanogaster. Drosophila vinculin is highly homologous in its N- and C-terminal domains both to mammalian and nematode vinculins, and contains internal repeats and proline-rich region typical for vinculins. The X chromosome rearrangement In(1LR)pn2a was found to disrupt Vinc so that the coding sequence is interrupted by the (AAGAG)n satellite DNA. Northern analysis revealed that the Vinc transcript is completely absent in the In(1LR)pn2a homozygous flies. Surprisingly, these Vinc flies are viable and fertile. This finding highlights plasticity and adaptive capacity of cellular cytoskeletal and anchorage system.

[Epigenetic inheritance and its possible role in the evolution of plant species]. / Epigeneticheskoe nasledovanie priznakov i ego vozmozhnaia rol' v mikroévoliutsii rastenii.

As it is clear now, the level of gene expression in eukariotes is determined mainly by chromatin composition. Chromatin structure of a particular gene (it is a complex item, which includes nucleosome positioning, histone modifications and non-histone chromatin proteins) can be modified externally and is able to be inherited mitotically and meiotically. Changes in chromatine structure are the basis of so called epigenetic inheritance that occurs without modification of DNA sequence. One of the most striking examples of epigenetic inheritance in plants is epimutations--stable for many generation's alleles of some genes that do not differ in primary DNA structure. Molecular basis of epimutations seems to be DNA metylation. Epimutations may be widely distributed in nature and affect some basis morphological features that have a systematic significance. Possibility of inheritance of acquired epigenetic modifications lead us to reconsider an idea of multipLe independent origins of some plant forms (or ecotypes) under action of similar external conditions. Different populations of the same species may in this case be unrelated and has no common ancestor. Species should be considered as invariant of multiple ways of origin. Wide distribution of polyploids amongst higher plants suggests effective mechanism of repression of multicopy genes. Each allopolyploidisation event is followed by repression of random set of parent genes via changes in its chromatin structure. As a result, in the limits of the same hybrid formula may arise different stable combinations of epigenetically controlled features of parent species. These combinations may be classified as different species of other taxa.

Noncoding RNAs and chromatin structure.

A number of examples of noncoding RNA-connected chromatin modifications in eukaryotes has been recently revealed. Four cases are under detailed consideration in the present review, namely Xist RNA-dependent X-chromosome inactivation in mammals, roX RNA-dependent hyperactivation of X-chromosome in the fruit fly (in both cases the goal is dosage compensation, equalization of transcription level from two X chromosomes in females and one in males), and two examples of RNAi-connected down-regulation of transcription--siRNA-dependent heterochromatin formation in fission yeast and RdDM (RNA-dependent DNA methylation) in plants (FWA gene regulation in Arabidopsis). Although overall quite different, each phenomenon demonstrates some common features of RNA-driven chromatin modification process, including the role of RNA in aiming of chromatin-modifying protein complexes to their targets and subsequent formation of self-maintaining specific chromatin conformation (DNA methylation, changes in histone code, and binding of self-assembling protein complexes).

Position-effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster X chromosome inversion with a breakpoint in a satellite block and its suppression in a secondary rearrangement.

In(1LR)pn2a is a pericentric inversion with a euchromatic breakpoint in the 2E polytene region and a heterochromatic breakpoint in the right arm of the X chromosome. It is associated with position-effect variegation (PEV) of the pn, wapl, Pgd and other vital loci of the 2E region, which are relocated near the bulk of the X heterochromatin. Cytological analysis showed that the rearrangement brings the 1A-2E euchromatic segment directly into contact with a major portion of the h34 block, a heterochromatic region that is positively stained by the N-banding technique and contains the AAGAG satellite sequences. Molecular cloning revealed the presence of a new junction between euchromatin and AAGAG satellite sequences and demonstrated that the euchromatic breakpoint of In(1LR)pn2a lies in the vinculin gene. In the X ray-induced secondary rearrangement In(1LR)r30, consisting of a pericentric inversion superimposed on In(1LR)pn2a, the h34 material remains associated with the 2E region but is separated from the rest of the X heterochromatin. In this case, the pn, wapl and Pgd loci no longer variegate, suggesting that the satellite-containing h34 region is not able per se to induce detectable PEV on the adjacent euchromatic genes.