北海道支部について

Heterochromatin reprogramming with histone variants and small RNA.

Dr. Robert A. Martienssen

Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation：

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

平成２７年９月１４日（月）１６時３０分－１８時００分

北海道大学理学部７号館３階　７－３１０号室

（札幌市北区北１０条西８丁目）

生命分子化学セミナー

日本生化学会北海道支部、日本生物物理学会北海道支部

Plants and fission yeast provide excellent model organisms to address

the question of how epigenetic information is propagated, including

transposon regulation, heterochromatic silencing, and gene imprinting,

important both for plant breeding and for human health.

We are investigating the role of RNA interference in heterochromatic

silencing in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and in the

plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

In fission yeast, we have found evidence that DNA replication promotes

spreading of heterochromatin, and that RNA interference promotes replication

by releasing RNA polymerase II. In plants we have found that the genome

undergoes limited reprogramming of DNA methylation in pollen, guided by DNA

glycosylases and small RNA. Using mutants deficient in histone and DNA

methylation, we have found that histone variants and microRNA contribute to

reprogramming by targeting transposons. Our results suggest a model for imprinting,

transposon control and the origin of epialleles.

北海道大学大学院理学研究院化学部門

　村上洋太

　０１１－７０６－３８１３

　e-mail：yota@sci.hokudai.ac.jp