Histone underacetylation is an ancient component of mammalian X chromosome inactivation
- *School of Genetics and Human Variation, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, 3083, Australia; and ‡Department of Anatomy, University of Birmingham Medical School, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
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Communicated by Stanley M. Gartler, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (received for review March 18, 1997)
Abstract
Underacetylation of histone H4 is thought to be involved in the molecular mechanism of mammalian X chromosome inactivation, which is an important model system for large-scale genetic control in eukaryotes. However, it has not been established whether histone underacetylation plays a critical role in the multistep inactivation pathway. Here we demonstrate differential histone H4 acetylation between the X chromosomes of a female marsupial, Macropus eugenii. Histone underacetylation is the only molecular aspect of X inactivation known to be shared by marsupial and eutherian mammals. Its strong evolutionary conservation implies that, unlike DNA methylation, histone underacetylation was a feature of dosage compensation in a common mammalian ancestor, and is therefore likely to play a central role in X chromosome inactivation in all mammals.
Footnotes
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↵ † To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: genmjw{at}genome.latrobe.edu.au.
- ABBREVIATION:
- NOR,
- nucleolus organizer region
- Copyright © 1997, The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
