Sir proteins impede, but do not prevent, access to silent chromatin in living Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sir2, Sir3 and Sir4 are indispensable for silencing, whereas Sir1 has a more limited role. The Sir proteins are also involved in repression at telomeres and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeats.

Proposed mechanisms for Sir-mediated silencing include limiting access to silenced DNA and inhibition of transcript initiation and/or elongation. Using an inducible M.SssI DNA methyltransferase expression system, we showed previously that the silenced mating type loci are methylated at a much slower rate than the rest of the genome in vivo. Here, we show that, in the absence of Sir2, Sir3 or Sir4, the silenced loci and the telomeric X elements are methylated at a similar rate to the rest of the genome, indicating that these Sir proteins impede access, but do not prevent it.