Nucleosome occupancy

Chromatin plays roles in processes governed by different time scales. To assay the dynamic behaviour of chromatin in living cells, we used genomic tiling arrays to measure histone H3 turnover in G1-arrested S. cerevisiae at single-nucleosome resolution over 4% of the genome, and over the entire genome at lower (~265 bp) resolution. We find that nucleosomes at promoters are replaced more rapidly than at coding regions, and that replacement rates over coding regions correlate with polymerase density. In addition, rapid histone turnover is found at known chromatin boundary elements. These results suggest that rapid histone turnover serves to functionally separate chromatin domains and prevent spread of histone states. Keywords: MNase, Nucleosomes Nucleosomal vs genomic DNA.