Rotation projects are available to study chromatin structure and function.

Project 1. Measure histone dynamics in yeast.

Histone dynamics play major roles in chromatin metabolism and in the inheritance of chromatin states. To measure histone replacement rates in yeast, we have created yeast strains carrying inducible epitope-tagged histones H3 and H2A. Using microarrays, we will measure histone replacement rates in a variety of mutant yeast to ascertain the role of various chromatin remodeling factors in histone exchange reactions.

Project 2. Characterize mechanisms for epigenetic inheritance in yeast.

We have identified a variety of genes whose expression state in yeast is epigenetically heritable. We will screen the yeast genome for genes that affect the inheritance of these expression patterns.

Project 3. Measure histone dynamics in embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells that can give rise to every type of cell in the adult animal. The role of chromatin structure in maintaining this pluripotent state is poorly understood, but it appears that stem cell chromatin is exceptionally labile relative to that in differentiated cells. We will create stem cell lines with inducible tagged histones to measure histone replacement rates across the mouse genome.