Projects per year
Abstract / Description of output
Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcription into a downstream promoter frequently results in transcriptional interference. However, the mechanism of this repression is not fully understood. We recently showed that drug tolerance in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is controlled by lncRNA transcription upstream of the tgp1(+) permease gene. Here we demonstrate that transcriptional interference of tgp1(+) involves several transcription-coupled chromatin changes mediated by conserved elongation factors Set2, Clr6CII, Spt6 and FACT. These factors are known to travel with RNAPII and establish repressive chromatin in order to limit aberrant transcription initiation from cryptic promoters present in gene bodies. We therefore conclude that conserved RNAPII-associated mechanisms exist to both suppress intragenic cryptic promoters during genic transcription and to repress gene promoters by transcriptional interference. Our analyses also demonstrate that key mechanistic features of transcriptional interference are shared between S. pombe and the highly divergent budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Thus, transcriptional interference is an ancient, conserved mechanism for tightly controlling gene expression. Our mechanistic insights allowed us to predict and validate a second example of transcriptional interference involving the S. pombe pho1(+) gene. Given that eukaryotic genomes are pervasively transcribed, transcriptional interference likely represents a more general feature of gene regulation than is currently appreciated.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 10619-10630 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Nucleic Acids Research |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 22 |
Early online date | 8 Sept 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Dec 2016 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Transcription-coupled changes to chromatin underpin gene silencing by transcriptional interference'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Core funding renewal for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology
1/10/11 → 30/04/17
Project: Research
Profiles
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Robin Allshire
- School of Biological Sciences - Professor of Chromosome Biology
- Centre for Engineering Biology
Person: Academic: Research Active