Title

Transcription and RNA interference in the formation of heterochromatin

Authors

Shiv Grewal
Sarah C.R. Elgin, Washington University in St. LouisFollow

Author's School

Arts & Sciences

Author's Department

Biology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2007

Originally Published In

Grewal SI, Elgin SC. Transcription and RNA interference in the formation of heterochromatin. Nature. 2007;447(7143):399–406. doi:10.1038/nature05914

Abstract

Transcription in heterochromatin seems to be an oxymoron--surely the 'silenced' form of chromatin should not be transcribed. But there have been frequent reports of low-level transcription in heterochromatic regions, and several hundred genes are found in these regions in Drosophila. Most strikingly, recent investigations implicate RNA interference mechanisms in targeting and maintaining heterochromatin, and these mechanisms are inherently dependent on transcription. Silencing of chromatin might involve trans-acting sources of the crucial small RNAs that carry out RNA interference, but in some cases, transcription of the region to be silenced seems to be required--an apparent contradiction.

Comments

Reprints and permissions information is available at npg.nature.com/reprintsandpermissions. The authors declare no competing financial interests. Correspondence should be addressed to S.C.R.E. (selgin@biology.wustl.edu) or S.I.S.G. (grewals@mail.nih.gov).

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5176-2510 [Elgin]

Recommended Citation

Grewal, Shiv and Elgin, Sarah C.R., "Transcription and RNA interference in the formation of heterochromatin" (2007). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 240.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/240