The roles of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Paf1 complex in regulating transcriptional repression

The conserved Paf1 complex is important for proper gene expression in both yeast and humans. The Paf1 complex has been shown to repress the transcription of numerous genes. However, the mechanism by which the Paf1 complex mediates transcriptional repression remains largely unstudied. Here I use ARG1 as a model gene to investigate transcriptional repression by the Paf1 complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Interestingly, I found that Paf1 complex-dependent histone modifications that are normally associated with active transcription are enriched on the ARG1 coding region and contribute to repression. The Rtf1 subunit of the Paf1 complex appears to mediate ARG1 repression primarily through histone H2B ubiquitylation and histone H3 K4 methylation. However, Paf1 has repressive functions aside from these histone modifications. Interestingly, occupancy of the activator Gcn4 is increased at the ARG1 promoter in paf1Δ cells, resulting in ARG1 derepression that is dependent on the histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 and histone H3 acetylation sites. Together my results suggest that Paf1 mediates ARG1 repression by preventing Gcn4 recruitment to the ARG1 promoter and subsequent histone H3 acetylation. I found that Paf1 does not alter nucleosome occupancy at the ARG1 promoter. However, I detect antisense transcription in the ARG1 promoter that positively correlates with ARG1 sense transcription. Interestingly, Paf1 prevents antisense transcription from traversing the ARG1 promoter, representing a potential mechanism by which the Paf1 complex controls promoter accessibility and ultimately ARG1 expression. Given these results, I hypothesize that the Paf1 complex mediates ARG1 repression partially by facilitating histone modifications that are refractory to ARG1 transcription and partially by inhibiting antisense transcription which controls promoter accessibility. Importantly, events that I observed at my model gene, ARG1, are demonstrated at other Paf1 complex-repressed genes

The Roles of the Paf1 Complex and Associated Histone Modifications in Regulating Gene Expression

The conserved Paf1 complex (Paf1C) carries out multiple functions during transcription by RNA polymerase (pol) II, and these functions are required for the proper expression of numerous genes in yeast and metazoans. In the elongation stage of the transcription cycle, the Paf1C associates with RNA pol II, interacts with other transcription elongation factors, and facilitates modifications to the chromatin template. At the end of elongation, the Paf1C plays an important role in the termination of RNA pol II transcripts and the recruitment of proteins required for proper RNA 3′ end formation. Significantly, defects in the Paf1C are associated with several human diseases. In this paper, we summarize current knowledge on the roles of the Paf1C in RNA pol II transcription

Depletion of Trypanosome CTR9 Leads to Gene Expression Defects

The Paf complex of Opisthokonts and plants contains at least five subunits: Paf1, Cdc73, Rtf1, Ctr9, and Leo1. Mutations in, or loss of Paf complex subunits have been shown to cause defects in histone modification, mRNA polyadenylation, and transcription by RNA polymerase I and RNA polymerase II. We here investigated trypanosome CTR9, which is essential for trypanosome survival. The results of tandem affinity purification suggested that trypanosome CTR9 associates with homologues of Leo1 and Cdc73; genes encoding homologues of Rtf1 and Paf1 were not found. RNAi targeting CTR9 resulted in at least ten-fold decreases in 131 essential mRNAs: they included several that are required for gene expression and its control, such as those encoding subunits of RNA polymerases, exoribonucleases that target mRNA, RNA helicases and RNA-binding proteins. Simultaneously, some genes from regions subject to chromatin silencing were derepressed, possibly as a secondary effect of the loss of two proteins that are required for silencing, ISWI and NLP1

Identification of Rkr1, a Nuclear RING Domain Protein with Functional Connections to Chromatin Modification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae▿

Proper transcription by RNA polymerase II is dependent on the modification state of the chromatin template. The Paf1 complex is associated with RNA polymerase II during transcription elongation and is required for several histone modifications that mark active genes. To uncover additional factors that regulate chromatin or transcription, we performed a genetic screen for mutations that cause lethality in the absence of the Paf1 complex component Rtf1. Our results have led to the discovery of a previously unstudied gene, RKR1. Strains lacking RKR1 exhibit phenotypes associated with defects in transcription and chromatin function. These phenotypes include inositol auxotrophy, impaired telomeric silencing, and synthetic lethality with mutations in SPT10, a gene that encodes a putative histone acetyltransferase. In addition, deletion of RKR1 causes severe genetic interactions with mutations that prevent histone H2B lysine 123 ubiquitylation or histone H3 lysine 4 methylation. RKR1 encodes a conserved nuclear protein with a functionally important RING domain at its carboxy terminus. In vitro experiments indicate that Rkr1 possesses ubiquitin-protein ligase activity. Taken together, our results identify a new participant in a protein ubiquitylation pathway within the nucleus that acts to modulate chromatin function and transcription