Christopher L. Woodcock

TL;DR: It is demonstrated by electron microscopy that core components of Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 induce compaction of defined nucleosomal arrays, suggesting this mechanism of chromatin compaction might be central to stable gene silencing by the Polycomb group.

TL;DR: It is reported that the mammalian homologs Ezh1 and Ezh2 form similar PRC2 complexes but exhibit contrasting repressive roles, and Ez h1 knockdown was ineffectual on global H3K27me2/3 levels, while Ezh 1 directly and robustly represses transcription from chromatinized templates and compacts chromatin in the absence of the methyltransferase cofactor SAM.

TL;DR: A linker histone-dependent architectural motif beyond the level of the nucleosome core particle is proposed that directs the arrangement of nucleosomes and linker DNA within the chromatin fiber, establishing a unique three-dimensional zigzag folding pattern that is conserved during compaction.

TL;DR: Results indicate that linker histones can participate in epigenetic regulation of gene expression by contributing to the maintenance or establishment of specific DNA methylation patterns.

TL;DR: It is clear that the 1 H1 per nucleosome paradigm for higher eukaryotes is the exception rather than the rule, and this prompts a reappraisal of the role of linker histone as an obligatory chromatin architectural protein.