1The FACT (FAcilitates Chromatin Transactions) complex is enriched on highly 2 expressed genes, where it facilitates transcription while maintaining chromatin structure. 3How it is targeted to these regions is unknown. In vitro, FACT binds destabilized 4 nucleosomes, supporting the hypothesis that FACT is targeted to transcribed chromatin 5 through recognition of RNA polymerase-disrupted nucleosomes. In this study, we used 6 high resolution analysis of FACT occupancy in S. cerevisiae to test this hypothesis. We 7 demonstrate that FACT interacts with unstable nucleosomes in vivo and its interaction 8 with chromatin is dependent on transcription by any of the three RNA polymerases. Deep 9 sequencing of micrococcal nuclease-resistant fragments shows that FACT-bound 10 nucleosomes exhibit differences in micrococcal nuclease sensitivity compared to bulk 11 chromatin, consistent with a modified nucleosome structure being the preferred ligand for 12 this complex. While the presence of altered nucleosomes associated with FACT can also 13 be explained by the known ability of this complex to modulate nucleosome structure, 14 transcription inhibition alleviates this effect indicating that it is not due to FACT 15 interaction alone. Collectively these results suggest that FACT is targeted to transcribed 16 genes through preferential interaction with RNA polymerase disrupted nucleosomes.