The euchromatic histone mark H3K36me3 preserves heterochromatin through sequestration of an acetyltransferase complex in fission yeast

Abstract

Maintaining the identity of chromatin states requires mechanisms that ensure their structural integrity through the concerted actions of histone modifiers, readers, and erasers. Histone H3K9me and H3K27me are hallmarks of repressed heterochromatin, whereas H3K4me and H3K36me are associated with actively transcribed euchromatin. Paradoxically, several studies have reported that loss of Set2, the methyltransferase responsible for H3K36me, causes de-repression of heterochromatin. Here we show that unconstrained activity of the acetyltransferase complex Mst2C, which antagonizes heterochromatin, is the main cause of the silencing defects observed in Set2-deficient cells. As previously shown, Mst2C is sequestered to actively transcribed chromatin via binding to H3K36me3 that is recognized by the PWWP domain protein Pdp3. We demonstrate that combining deletions of set2+ and pdp3+ results in an epistatic silencing phenotype. In contrast, deleting mst2+, or other members of Mst2C, fully restores silencing in Set2-deficient cells. Suppression of the silencing defect in set2{Delta} cells is specific for pericentromeres and subtelomeres, which are marked by H3K9me, but not seen for loci that lack genuine heterochromatin. Although Mst2 catalyzes acetylation of H3K14, this modification is likely not involved in the Set2-dependent pathway due to redundancy with the HAT Gcn5. Moreover, while Mst2 is required for acetylation of the H2B ubiquitin ligase Brl1 in euchromatin, we find that its role in heterochromatin silencing is not affected by Brl1 acetylation. We propose that it targets another, unknown substrate critical for heterochromatin silencing. Our findings demonstrate that maintenance of chromatin states requires spatial constraint of opposing chromatin activities.