Cooperation between Caenorhabditis elegans COMPASS and condensin in germline chromatin organization

Deposition of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation at promoter regions by the SET1/COMPASS complex is associated with context-dependent effects on gene expression. Transcription-independent functions have also been attributed to this highly conserved complex, but whether these contribute to higher-order chromosome organization has not been explored. Using a quantitative FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer)-based fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) approach to assay nanometer scale chromatin compaction in live animals, we reveal an unexpected role for SET1/COMPASS in structuring meiotic chromosomes in the germline of C. elegans. Inactivation of SET-2, the C. elegans homologue of the catalytic subunit SET1, strongly enhanced chromosome organization defects and loss of fertility resulting from partial depletion of condensin-II. Loss of CFP-1, the chromatin targeting subunit of COMPASS, similarly affected germline chromatin compaction measured by FLIM-FRET and enhanced condensin-II knock-down phenotypes. Defects in chromosome morphology following conditional inactivation of topoisomerase II, another structural component of chromosomes, were also aggravated in the absence of set-2. Our results are consistent with a role of SET1/COMPASS in shaping meiotic chromosomes in the C. elegans germline, and have important implications for how chromatin-modifying complexes and histone modifications may cooperate with non histone-proteins to achieve proper chromosome organization, not only in meiosis, but also in mitosis. Overall design: Expression profilling in germline tissue of C.elegans strains have been anayzed in 3 biological replicates of wild-type strain (WT) (used as a control) and mutant strain set-2(bn129)