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Fig. 1 | Epigenetics & Chromatin

Fig. 1

From: 27nt-RNAs guide histone variant deposition via ‘RNA-induced DNA replication interference’ and thus transmit parental genome partitioning in Stylonychia

Fig. 1

Spatiotemporal dynamics of histone variants in Stylonychia and top-ranked differentially expressed genes during macronuclear development. a H3.8 is a micronucleus-specific H3 variant that possesses a specific PTM signature (H3.8K33me3T34ph; homolog to H3K27me3S28ph) and becomes replaced by another variant (H3.7) in developing macronuclei. Subsequently H3.7 also becomes replaced by H3.3, H3.4 and H3.5. b Ranking diagram (top) and table (bottom) demonstrating the differential expression of selected gene transcripts. Many histone variant genes and RNA metabolism genes are under the top ranking genes, which become differentially expressed during macronuclear development. c Genes of interest being differentially expressed during macronuclear development (10 to > 100 h PC) were identified by their relative abundance and expression fold change in comparison to vegetative (v) Stylonychia. Explicitly, among the histone genes several variants are abundantly expressed during development: H2A.6 (early polytenization/EP) and H2A.3 (late polytenization/LP), H2B.4 (EP) and H2B.3 (LP), H3.7 (EP), H3.5 (EP/LP), H3.4 (LP). Also the turnover of histone H4 (EP/LP), the linker histone variant H1.2 (EP/LP) as well as the histone chaperone ASF1 is markedly elevated. PIWI1 (also macronuclear development protein1; MDP1) is by far the most abundant PIWI-domain protein expressed during macronuclear development, whereas PIWI2 and much lower PIWI6 become constitutively expressed. 10 other PIWI-like genes remain comparatively lowly expressed. Besides, three DICER candidate genes (DCL1-3), three putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRP1-3) exhibit development-specific escalation of transcription on a low level. A somehow unexpected paucity of putative chromatin modifier genes (chromodomain proteins [CDL1-5] and putative SET-domain KMTs [SET1-5]) was moreover observed

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