Acetylation of histone H4 on lysine 16 (H4-K16Ac) is a prevalent and reversible posttranslational chromatin modification in eukaryotes. To characterize the structural and functional role of this mark, we used a native chemical ligation strategy to generate histone H4 that was homogeneously acetylated at K16. The incorporation of this modified histone into nucleosomal arrays inhibits the formation of compact 30-nanometer-like fibers and impedes the ability of chromatin to form cross-fiber interactions. H4-K16Ac also inhibits the ability of the adenosine triphosphate-utilizing chromatin assembly and remodeling enzyme ACF to mobilize a mononucleosome, indicating that this single histone modification modulates both higher order chromatin structure and functional interactions between a nonhistone protein and the chromatin fiber.

Systematic annotation of gene regulatory elements is a major challenge in genome science. Direct mapping of chromatin modification marks and transcriptional factor binding sites genome-wide 1,2 has successfully identified specific subtypes of regulatory elements 3. In Drosophila several pioneering studies have provided genome-wide identification of Polycomb-Response Elements 4, chromatin states 5, transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) 6–9, PolII regulation 8, and insulator elements 10; however, comprehensive annotation of the regulatory genome remains a significant challenge. Here we describe results from the modENCODE cis-regulatory annotation project. We produced a map of the Drosophila melanogaster regulatory genome based on more than 300 chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP) datasets for eight chromatin features, five histone deacetylases (HDACs) and thirty-eight site-specific transcription factors (TFs) at different stages of development. Using these data we inferred more than 20,000 candidate regulatory elements and we validated a subset of predictions for promoters, enhancers, and insulators in vivo. We also identified nearly 2,000 genomic regions of dense TF binding associated with chromatin activity and accessibility. We discovered hundreds of new TF co-binding relationships and defined a TF network with over 800 potential regulatory relationships.