ADDING TO THE CODEBOOK: REGULATION OF LOCAL CHROMATIN ARCHITECTURE IN NEUROSPORA CRASSA

Local chromatin architecutre is an important feature of nuclear organization of

eukaryotic genomes. This local chromatin environment is established, maintained, and

interpreted in a number of ways including post-translation modifications to histones,

binding of DNA by regulatory proteins, and rearrangement of nucleosomes. This work

uses the model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa to understand fundamental

mechanisms regulating local chromatin architecture in eukaryotes. The findings presented

here demonstrate mechanisms for the control of both accessible and inaccessible

chromatin and provides a possible unifying mechanism for epigenetic compensation in

eukaryotes when the normal local chromatin environment is disrupted. Further, this work

presents evidence of possible evolutionary conservation of features of local chormatin

architecture and mechanisms of transcriptional silencing in eukaryotes.