RNAi-Mediated Targeting of Heterochromatin by the RITS Complex
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) is a widespread silencing mechanism that acts at both the posttranscriptional and transcriptional levels. Here, we describe the purification of an RNAi effector complex termed RITS (RNA-induced initiation of transcriptional gene silencing) that is required for heterochromatin assembly in fission yeast. The RITS complex contains Ago1 (the fission yeast Argonaute homolog), Chp1 (a heterochromatin-associated chromodomain protein), and Tas3 (a novel protein). In addition, the complex contains small RNAs that require the Dicer ribonuclease for their production. These small RNAs are homologous to centromeric repeats and are required for the localization of RITS to heterochromatic domains. The results suggest a mechanism for the role of the RNAi machinery and small RNAs in targeting of heterochromatin complexes and epigenetic gene silencing at specific chromosomal loci.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Already a Subscriber?Sign In
Supplementary Material
References and Notes
1
S. I. S. Grewal, J. Cell. Physiol.184, 311 (2000).
2
S. I. S. Grewal, D. Moazed, Science301, 798 (2003).
3
J. F. Partridge, K. S. Scott, A. J. Bannister, T. Kouzarides, R. C. Allshire, Curr. Biol.12, 1652 (2002).
4
D. Zilberman, X. Cao, S. E. Jacobsen, Science299, 716 (2003).
5
M. Matzke, A. J. M. Matzke, J. M. Kooter, Science293, 1080 (2001).
6
F. E. Vaistij, L. Jones, D. C. Baulcombe, Plant Cell14, 857 (2002).
7
M. Pal-Bhadra, U. Bhadra, J. A. Birchler, Mol. Cell9, 315 (2002).
8
K. Mochizuki, N. A. Fine, T. Fujisawa, M. A. Gorovsky, Cell110, 689 (2002).
9
T. A. Volpeet al., Science297, 1833 (2002).
10
I. M. Hallet al., Science297, 2232 (2002).
11
A. Fireet al., Nature391, 806 (1998).
12
G. J. Hannon, Nature418, 244 (2002).
13
P. D. Zamore, Science296, 1265 (2002).
14
S. M. Hammond, S. Boettcher, A. A. Caudy, R. Kobayashi, G. J. Hannon, Science293, 1146 (2001).
15
G. Hutvágner, P. D. Zamore, Science297, 2056 (2002).
16
B. J. Reinhart, D. P. Bartel, Science297, 1831 (2002).
17
V. Schramke, R. Allshire, Science301, 1069 (2003).
18
J. F. Partridge, B. Borgstrom, R. C. Allshire, Genes Dev.14, 783 (2000).
19
G. Thon, J. Verhein-Hansen, Genetics155, 551 (2000).
20
C. L. Doeet al., Nucleic Acids Res.26, 4222 (1998).
21
G. D. Shankaranarayana, M. R. Motamedi, D. Moazed, S. I. S. Grewal, Curr. Biol.13, 1240 (2003).
22
Materials and methods are available as supporting material on Science Online.
23
D. S. Schwarz, G. Hutvágner, B. Haley, P. D. Zamore, Mol. Cell10, 537 (2002).
24
J. Martinez, A. Patkaniowska, H. Urlaub, R. Luhrmann, T. Tuschl, Cell110, 563 (2002).
25
S. D. Taverna, R. S. Coyne, C. D. Allis, Cell110, 701 (2002).
26
J. Nakayama, J. C. Rice, B. D. Strahl, C. D. Allis, S. I. S. Grewal, Science292, 110 (2001).
27
We thank M. Ohi, K. Gould, C. Hoffman, and D. Wolf for gifts of strains and plasmids; members of the Moazed, Grewal, and Reed laboratories for support and encouragement; R Ohi and El C. Ibrahim for advice; El C. Ibrahim and M. Wahi for comments on the manuscript; and C. Centrella for technical help. A.V. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from INSERM and is now a fellow of the Human Frontier Science Programme. This work was supported by grants from the NIH (S.I.S.G. and D.M.) and a Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch Award in Cell Biology and Pathology (D.M.). D.M. is a scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 303 | Issue 5658
30 January 2004
30 January 2004
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Article versions
You are viewing the most recent version of this article.
Submission history
Received: 14 November 2003
Accepted: 5 December 2003
Published in print: 30 January 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Altmetrics
Citations
Export citation
Select the format you want to export the citation of this publication.
Cited by
- From micronucleus to macronucleus: Programmed DNA rearrangement in ciliates is regulated by non-coding RNA molecules, Genome Stability, (109-123), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85679-9.00007-6
- Emerging roles of centromeric RNAs in centromere formation and function, Genes & Genomics, 43, 3, (217-226), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-021-01041-y
- Molecular principles of Piwi-mediated cotranscriptional silencing through the dimeric SFiNX complex, Genes & Development, 35, 5-6, (392-409), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.347989.120
- Non-coding RNAs in genome integrity, Genome Stability, (453-475), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85679-9.00024-6
- RNA Interference in Fungi, Encyclopedia of Mycology, (94-101), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819990-9.00027-5
- Breakers and amplifiers in chromatin circuitry: acetylation and ubiquitination control the heterochromatin machinery, Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 71, (156-163), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbi.2021.06.012
- Dri1 mediates heterochromatin assembly via RNAi and histone deacetylation, Genetics, 218, 1, (2021).https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyab032
- Copy number-dependent DNA methylation of the Pyricularia oryzae MAGGY retrotransposon is triggered by DNA damage, Communications Biology, 4, 1, (2021).https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01836-5
- Trimethylguanosine synthase 1 (Tgs1) is involved in Swi6/HP1‐independent siRNA production and establishment of heterochromatin in fission yeast, Genes to Cells, 26, 4, (203-218), (2021).https://doi.org/10.1111/gtc.12833
- Epigenetic modifications in muscle regeneration and progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Clinical Epigenetics, 13, 1, (2021).https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-021-01001-z
- See more
Loading...
View Options
Get Access
Log in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS Members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
- Become a AAAS Member
- Activate your AAAS ID
- Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family
- Account Help
Log in via OpenAthens.
Log in via Shibboleth.
More options
Purchase digital access to this article
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
View options
PDF format
Download this article as a PDF file
Download PDF