Hennig W., Becker A., Feng RR, Berger, A., Ye J., Tang X.
DAAD Laboratory, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P.R. China The chromatin constitution in male germ cells differs from that of any other cell type. The cell cycle regulated histones, forming the core of the nucleosomes, are replaced by other more basic proteins. The nucleosomal configuration of the DNA is given up and converted in another form of packing which in its molecular details is not understood (Hennig, 2003). In Drosophila it is not even clear which proteins substitute the somatic histones. We have investigated the chromatin constitution (Akhmanova et al. 1997) and suspected that a histone variant, H3.3, is involved in the repackaging. We have studied the regulation of expression of the two histone H3.3 genes with the aid of GFP constructs in the male and female germ line. It emerges that the 3’-UTRs with their different polyadenylation signals are involved in the cell type-specific regulation of the expression of histone H3.3A and H3.3B. We have also expressed human transition proteins TP1 and TP2 as well as protamine 1 and protamine 2 in the male germ line of Drosophila to study their effect on the chromatin constitution and on fertility. The results will be discussed.
References:
Akhmanova A. , K. Miedema, Y. Wang, M. van Bruggen, J.M.H. Berden, E.M.. Moudrianakis, W. Hennig: Chromosoma 106:335-347, 1997
