Genome-wide mapping of nucleosomes has revealed a great deal about the relationships between chromatin structure and control of gene expression, and has led to mechanistic hypotheses regarding the rules by which chromatin structure is established. High-throughput sequencing has recently become the technology of choice for chromatin mapping studies, yet analysis of these experiments is still in its infancy. Here, we introduce a pipeline for analyzing deep sequencing maps of chromatin structure and apply it to data from S. cerevisiae. We analyze a digestion series where nucleosomes are isolated from under-and overdigested chromatin. We find that certain classes of nucleosomes are unusually susceptible or resistant to overdigestion, with promoter nucleosomes easily digested and mid-coding region nucleosomes being quite stable. We find evidence for highly sensitive nucleosomes located within ''nucleosome-free regions,'' suggesting that these regions are not always completely naked but instead are likely associated with easily digested nucleosomes. Finally, since RNA polymerase is the dominant energy-consuming machine that operates on the chromatin template, we analyze changes in chromatin structure when RNA polymerase is inactivated via a temperature-sensitive mutation. We find evidence that RNA polymerase plays a role in nucleosome eviction at promoters and is also responsible for retrograde shifts in nucleosomes during transcription. Loss of RNA polymerase results in a relaxation of chromatin structure to more closely match in vitro nucleosome positioning preferences. Together, these results provide analytical tools and experimental guidance for nucleosome mapping experiments, and help disentangle the interlinked processes of transcription and chromatin packaging.

Although the genomic pattern of nucleosome positioning is broadly conserved, quantitative aspects vary over evolutionary timescales. We identify the cis and trans determinants of nucleosome positioning using a functional evolutionary approach involving S. cerevisiae strains containing large genomic regions from other yeast species. In a foreign species, nucleosome depletion at promoters is maintained over poly(dA:dT) tracts, whereas internucleosome spacing and all other aspects of nucleosome positioning tested are not. Interestingly, the locations of the +1 nucleosome and RNA start sites shift in concert. Strikingly, in a foreign species, nucleosome-depleted regions occur fortuitously in coding regions, and they often act as promoters that are associated with a positioned nucleosome array linked to the length of the transcription unit. We suggest a three-step model, in which nucleosome remodelers, general transcription factors, and the transcriptional elongation machinery are primarily involved in generating the nucleosome positioning pattern in vivo.

It has been some 40 years since repeating subunits in eukaryotic chromatin, initially termed "nu bodies," were described. Four decades of study have characterized the structural organization of the nucleosome, from multiple crystal structures of individual nucleosomes to genome-wide maps of nucleosome positions in scores of organisms. Nucleosome positioning can impact essentially all DNA-templated processes, making an appreciation of the forces shaping the nucleosomal landscape in eukaryotes key to fully understanding genomic regulation. Here, we review the factors impacting nucleosome positioning and the ways that nucleosomes can control the output of the genome.

ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling proteins represent a diverse family of proteins that share ATPase domains that are adapted to regulate protein–DNA interactions. Here, we present structures of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Chd1 protein engaged with nucleosomes in the presence of the transition state mimic ADP-beryllium fluoride. The path of DNA strands through the ATPase domains indicates the presence of contacts conserved with single strand translocases and additional contacts with both strands that are unique to Snf2 related proteins. The structure provides connectivity between rearrangement of ATPase lobes to a closed, nucleotide bound state and the sensing of linker DNA. Two turns of linker DNA are prised off the surface of the histone octamer as a result of Chd1 binding, and both the histone H3 tail and ubiquitin conjugated to lysine 120 are re-orientated towards the unravelled DNA. This indicates how changes to nucleosome structure can alter the way in which histone epitopes are presented.

The yeast Chd1 protein acts to position nucleosomes across genomes. Here, we model the structure of the Chd1 protein in solution and when bound to nucleosomes. In the apo state, the DNA-binding domain contacts the edge of the nucleosome while in the presence of the non-hydrolyzable ATP analog, ADP-beryllium fluoride, we observe additional interactions between the ATPase domain and the adjacent DNA gyre 1.5 helical turns from the dyad axis of symmetry. Binding in this conformation involves unravelling the outer turn of nucleosomal DNA and requires substantial reorientation of the DNA-binding domain with respect to the ATPase domains. The orientation of the DNA-binding domain is mediated by sequences in the N-terminus and mutations to this part of the protein have positive and negative effects on Chd1 activity. These observations indicate that the unfavorable alignment of C-terminal DNA-binding region in solution contributes to an auto-inhibited state.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22510.001