Author

James Kadonaga
Email

Published on SDB CoRe: Jan 31 2012

Organisms: Invertebrates; Vertebrates; Plants
Gene Regulation: Transcriptional Control
Organism: Drosophila
Stage of Development: Embryo

Object Description

The key feature that dictates the chromatin structure in the promoter region of a gene appears to be the stability or lability of the transcriptional state.  A stable transcriptional state refers to a resistance to change in level of gene expression—typical of housekeeping genes that are always on.  This stable transcriptional state correlates with a chromatin structure in which nucleosomes are located at specific positions relative to the transcription start site.  A labile transcriptional state indicates it can easily change the level of gene expression—typical of regulated genes that are poised for rapid activation or repression.  This labile state correlates with little or no nucleosome positioning. Focused promoters in constitutive genes (with TCT motif) as well as dispersed promoters typically exhibit strong nucleosome positioning. In contrast, focused promoters in regulated genes (with TATA, Inr, MTE, DPE motifs) generally do not contain positioned nucleosomes. WIREs Dev Biol 2012. DOI: 10.1002/wdev.21

References

Kadonaga, J.T. Perspectives on the RNA polymerase II core promoter. WIREs Dev Biol, 2012, 1:40-51.

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