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RNA Interference pp 157–183Cite as

RNAi-Mediated Chromatin Silencing in Fission Yeast

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 320))

Abstract

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the RNAi pathway plays an important role in the formation and maintenance of heterochromatin. Heterochromatin, or silent chromatin, is an epigenetically inherited attribute of eukaryotic chromosomes which is required for gene regulation, chromosome segregation and maintenance of genome stability. In S. pombe, heterochromatin forms on related repetitive DNA sequences at specific loci. These repetitive sequences, in concert with the RNAi machinery, are thought to attract several proteins including chromatin-modifying enzymes which act to promote heterochromatin formation. The purification of complexes participating in heterochromatin formation has allowed us to begin to analyse in detail the processes involved. In the future this will help us to understand how the RNAi machinery acts to induce the chromatin modifications which lead to heterochromatin assembly in fission yeast.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Welcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, Scotland, UK

    Sharon A. White

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  1. Sharon A. White
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  2. Robin C. Allshire
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  1. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Fellows Program, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, 11771

    Patrick J. Paddison

  2. Department of Molecular & Experimental Medicine Division of Oncovirology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Road, BCC-239, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Peter K. Vogt

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White, S.A., Allshire, R.C. (2008). RNAi-Mediated Chromatin Silencing in Fission Yeast. In: Paddison, P.J., Vogt, P.K. (eds) RNA Interference. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 320. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75157-1_8

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