Calculation of the ratio of the mononucleosome mapping number to the dinucleosome mapping number for each nucleotide position in the Aspergillus fumigatus genome

Original Research

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Author: Hiromi Nishida

Published Date November 2009 Volume 2009:1(Default) Pages 1 - 6

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OAB.S7797

Hiromi Nishida

Agricultural Bioinformatics Research Unit, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract: The ratio of the mononucleosome mapping site-number to the dinucleosome mapping site-number calculated using nucleosome mapping data of Aspergillus fumigatus was employed as a marker for the sensitivity of nucleosomes to micrococcal nuclease (MNase). This ratio was obtained for four different regions, namely, active gene bodies, active gene promoters, inactive gene bodies, and inactive gene promoters and compared. It was found that the nucleosomes located in the active gene promoters were more sensitive to MNase than those in the active gene bodies but less sensitive than those in the inactive gene bodies and promoters. In addition, compared to the gene bodies, gene promoters have a greater variety of nucleosomes that are sensitive to MNase, regardless of the transcriptional activity of these genes. This study showed that in addition to a mononucleosome map, a dinucleosome map is useful for estimating the sensitivity of nucleosomes to MNase.

Keywords: Aspergillus fumigatus, chromatin, dinucleosome stability, micrococcal nuclease sensitivity, nucleosome, transcriptional activity