Gene expression depends on the frequency of transcription events (burst frequency) and on the number of mRNA molecules made per event (burst size). Both processes are encoded in promoter sequence, yet their dependence on mutations is poorly understood. Theory suggests that burst size and frequency can be distinguished by monitoring the stochastic variation (noise) in gene expression: Increasing burst size will increase mean expression without changing noise, while increasing burst frequency will increase mean expression and decrease noise. To reveal principles by which promoter sequence regulates burst size and frequency, we randomly mutated 22 yeast promoters chosen to span a range of expression and noise levels, generating libraries of hundreds of sequence variants. In each library, mean expression (m) and noise (coefficient of variation, h) varied together, defining a scaling curve: h 2 = b/m + h ext 2 . This relation is expected if sequence mutations modulate burst frequency primarily. The estimated burst size (b) differed between promoters, being higher in promoter containing a TATA box and lacking a nucleosome-free region. The rare variants that significantly decreased b were explained by mutations in TATA, or by an insertion of an out-of-frame translation start site. The decrease in burst size due to mutations in TATA was promoter-dependent, but independent of other mutations. These TATA box mutations also modulated the responsiveness of gene expression to changing conditions. Our results suggest that burst size is a promoter-specific property that is relatively robust to sequence mutations but is strongly dependent on the interaction between the TATA box and promoter nucleosomes.

Genome replication introduces a stepwise increase in the DNA template available for transcription. Genes replicated early in S phase experience this increase before late-replicating genes, raising the question of how expression levels are affected by DNA replication. We show that in budding yeast, messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis rate is buffered against changes in gene dosage during S phase. This expression homeostasis depends on acetylation of H3 on its internal K56 site by Rtt109/Asf1. Deleting these factors, mutating H3K56 or up-regulating its deacetylation, increases gene expression in S phase in proportion to gene replication timing. Therefore, H3K56 acetylation on newly deposited histones reduces transcription efficiency from replicated DNA, complementing its role in guarding genome stability. Our study provides molecular insight into the mechanism maintaining expression homeostasis during DNA replication.

The ability of the nervous system to sense cellular stress and coordinate protein homeostasis is essential for organismal health. Unfortunately, stress responses that mitigate disturbances in proteostasis, such as the unfolded protein response of the endoplasmic reticulum (UPRER), become defunct with age. In this work, we expressed the constitutively active UPRER transcription factor, XBP-1s, in a subset of astrocyte-like glia, which extended the life span in Caenorhabditis elegans. Glial XBP-1s initiated a robust cell nonautonomous activation of the UPRER in distal cells and rendered animals more resistant to protein aggregation and chronic ER stress. Mutants deficient in neuropeptide processing and secretion suppressed glial cell nonautonomous induction of the UPRER and life-span extension. Thus, astrocyte-like glial cells play a role in regulating organismal ER stress resistance and longevity.

Chromatin is composed of DNA and histones, which provide a unified platform for regulating DNA-related processes, mostly through their post-translational modification. During DNA replication, histone arrangement is perturbed, first to allow progression of DNA polymerase and then during repackaging of the replicated DNA. To study how DNA replication influences the pattern of histone modification, we followed the cell-cycle dynamics of 10 histone marks in budding yeast. We find that histones deposited on newly replicated DNA are modified at different rates: While some marks appear immediately upon replication (e.g., H4K16ac, H3K4me1), others increase with transcription-dependent delays (e.g., H3K4me3, H3K36me3). Notably, H3K9ac was deposited as a wave preceding the replication fork by ∼5-6 kb. This replication-guided H3K9ac was fully dependent on the acetyltransferase Rtt109, while expression-guided H3K9ac was deposited by Gcn5. Further, topoisomerase depletion intensified H3K9ac in front of the replication fork and in sites where RNA polymerase II was trapped, suggesting supercoiling stresses trigger H3K9 acetylation. Our results assign complementary roles for DNA replication and gene expression in defining the pattern of histone modification.