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Review
. 2010 Mar 15;339(2):258-66.
doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.06.012. Epub 2009 Jun 13.

Nucleosome positioning: how is it established, and why does it matter?

Marta Radman-Livaja  1 , Oliver J Rando
Affiliations
Review

Nucleosome positioning: how is it established, and why does it matter?

Marta Radman-Livaja et al. Dev Biol. .

Abstract

Packaging of eukaryotic genomes into chromatin affects every process that occurs on DNA. The positioning of nucleosomes on underlying DNA plays a key role in the regulation of these processes, as the nucleosome occludes underlying DNA sequences. Here, we review the literature on mapping nucleosome positions in various organisms, and discuss how nucleosome positions are established, what effect nucleosome positioning has on control of gene expression, and touch on the correlations between chromatin packaging, sequence evolution, and the evolution of gene expression programs.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Nucleosome positioning in a typical gene
Red and grey nucleosomes are strongly and weakly positioned, respectively. Magenta nucleosomes are occasionally positioned by DNA sequence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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