Among acetyltransferases, the MYST family enzyme Esa1p is distinguished for its essential function and contribution to transcriptional activation and DNA double-stranded break repair. Here we report that Esa1p also plays a key role in silencing RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-transcribed genes at telomeres and within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of the nucleolus. These effects are mediated through Esa1p's HAT activity and correlate with changes within the nucleolus. Esa1p is enriched within the rDNA, as is the NAD-dependent protein deacetylase Sir2p, and the acetylation levels of key Esa1p histone targets are reduced in the rDNA in esa1 mutants. Although mutants of both ESA1 and SIR2 have enhanced rates of rDNA recombination, esa1 effects are more modest yet result in distinct structural changes of rDNA chromatin. Surprisingly, increased expression of ESA1 can bypass the requirement for Sir2p in rDNA silencing, suggesting that these two enzymes with seemingly opposing activities both contribute to achieve optimal nucleolar chromatin structure and function.
INTRODUCTIONHistone modifications such as phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, and deacetylation provide a mechanism by which chromatin structure is modulated to affect gene expression both positively and negatively (for reviews see Strahl and Allis, 2000;Iizuka and Smith, 2003;Kurdistani and Grunstein, 2003). The acetylation of lysine residues on histone N-terminal tails is classically linked to increases in gene expression and more directly to roles in transcriptional activation. By contrast, deacetylation of histones is most frequently correlated with transcriptionally silent chromatin. As more is learned about the enzymes catalyzing these modifications, the histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), simple functional distinctions between acetylation and deacetylation of histones do not hold (Iizuka and Smith, 2003). For example, in several organisms, mutations in RPD3, a gene encoding a deacetylase, lead to increases in silencing rather than the expected decreases (DeRubertis et al., 1996;Rundlett et al., 1996). This brings forward the possibility that histone acetylation may play an important part in both silent and active chromatin. In addition, coactivator proteins, such as the histone acetyltransferases p300 and CBP and nuclear hormone receptors, appear to have roles in transcriptional repression through acetylation and association with particular binding partners (for examples, see Chen and Li, 1998;Waltzer and Bienz, 1998;Baluchamy et al., 2003;Girdwood et al., 2003;Rajabi et al., 2005). Thus, understanding of multiple roles for acetylation in controlling gene expression is expanding.In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, there are three regions of the genome controlled by chromatin-mediated transcriptional silencing: telomeres, the silent mating-type loci HMR and HML, and the rDNA array. Many factors are important for transcriptional silencing at subsets of these loci including the four core histones, the repressor activator protein Rap1...