Eukaryotic Genome Organization Notes

Hierarchies in eukaryotic
genome organization
Dr. Sandeep Kumar

Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Life Sciences
Jain (Deemed-to-be) University
Organization of Eukaryotic Chromosome
Eukaryotic chromosomes
• Individual eukaryotic chromosomes contain
enormous amounts of DNA.
• Like the bacterial chromosome, each
eukaryotic chromosome consists of a
single, extremely long molecule of DNA.
• For all of this DNA to fit into the nucleus,
tremendous packing and folding are
required, the extent of which must change
in the course of the cell cycle
Chromatin
• Eukaryotic DNA in the cell is closely

associated with proteins.
• This combination of DNA and protein is called
chromatin.
• The two basic types of chromatin are
euchromatin, which undergoes the normal
process of condensation and decondensation
in the cell cycle,
• Heterochromatin, which remains in a highly
condensed state throughout the cell cycle,
even during interphase
Heterochromatin
• All chromosomes have
heterochromatin at the
centromeres and telomeres.
• Heterochromatin is also
present at other specific places
on some chromosomes, along
the entire inactive X
chromosome in female
mammals and throughout most
of the Y chromosome in males.
Histone proteins
• Most abundant proteins in chromatin
• Family of highly basic proteins whose primary
job is to associate with DNA and condense the
chromatin
• Rich in positively charged amino acids such as
lysine and arginine
• Their positive charges allow them to associate
with the negatively charged DNA with greater
affinity
• Histone proteins fall into two major
categories: core histones and linker histones
Histone proteins
Nonhistone chromosomal proteins
• May regulate gene expression in eukaryotic cells

• New species of nonhistone chromosomal proteins as well as
modifications of preexisting nonhistone chromosomal proteins
are involved in the control of transcription.
• The nonhistone chromosomal proteins include
1. enzymes that have a general function - HDAC
2. proteins that are involved in determining the structure of
chromatin - structural maintenance of chromosomes
3. proteins that serve as recognition sites for binding of
regulatory macromolecules – activator and repressor proteins
Nucleosome
• The simplest level is the

double-helical structure of DNA and
chromosome – advanced
• Such experiments demonstrated
that chromatin is not a random
association of proteins and DNA but
has a fundamental repeating
structure.
• The repeating core of protein and
DNA produced by digestion with
nuclease enzymes is the simplest
level of chromatin structure, the
nucleosome
Structure of Histones
• All core histones share two

common structural domains:
• The histone fold domain
• about 70 amino acids
• Structurally conserved motif
found near the C-terminus
• The histone tail, rich in lysine
residues – post translation
modifications
Histone H1
• The fifth type of histone, H1, is
not a part of the core particle but
plays an important role in
nucleosome structure.
• H1 binds to 20 to 22 bp of DNA
where the DNA joins and leaves
the octamer and helps to lock the
DNA into place, acting as a
clamp around the nucleosome
octamer
Higher-order chromatin structure
• Adjacent nucleosomes pack

together to form a 30-nm
• nucleosomes fold on themselves to
form a dense, tightly packed structure
that makes up a fiber with
a diameter of about 30 nm
• Two different models have been
proposed for the 30-nm fiber: a
solenoid model, in which a linear array
of nucleosomes are coiled, and a helix
model, in which nucleosomes are
arranged in a zigzag ribbon that twists
or supercoils.
Nuclear scaffold
• The next-higher level of chromatin structure

is a series of loops of 30-nm fibers, each
anchored at its base by proteins in the
nuclear scaffold
• On average, each loop encompasses some
20,000 to 100,000 bp of DNA and is about
300 nm in length, but the individual loops
vary considerably.
• The 300-nm loops are packed and folded to
produce a 250-nm-wide fiber. Tight helical
coiling of the 250-nm fiber, in turn, produces
the structure that appears in metaphase—
individual chromatids approximately 700 nm
in width

Eukaryotic Genome Organization Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Eukaryotic Genome Organization Notes

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Eukaryotic Genome Organization Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hierarchies in eukaryotic

Dr. Sandeep Kumar

• Eukaryotic DNA in the cell is closely

• May regulate gene expression in eukaryotic cells

• The simplest level is the

• All core histones share two

• Adjacent nucleosomes pack

• The next-higher level of chromatin structure

You might also like