Definition
Heterochromatin and euchromatin are two major categories of chromatin higher order structure. Heterochromatin has condensed chromatin structure and is inactive for transcription, while euchromatin has loose chromatin structure and active for transcription. Heterochromatin is further divided into two subcategories: constitutive and facultative heterochromatin. Heterochromatin and euchromatin are defined by specific histone modifications. Since heterochromatin can spread into neighboring euchromatic region and repress gene expression, it is important to regulate boundaries between euchromatin and heterochromatin. Generally, the balance of euchromatic and heterochromatic histone-modifying enzymes determines the boundary. At particular region, sequence specific elements and their binding proteins define the boundary. In addition, the boundary elements determine the domain structure of genome that is important for wide range of...
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Murakami, Y. (2013). Heterochromatin and Euchromatin. In: Dubitzky, W., Wolkenhauer, O., Cho, KH., Yokota, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Systems Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_1413
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_1413
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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