The BAH (bromo-adjacent homology) domain: a link between DNA methylation, replication and transcriptional regulation

Using sensitive methods of sequence analysis including hydrophobic cluster analysis, we report here a hitherto undescribed family of modules, the BAH (bromo-adjacent homology) family, which includes proteins such as eukaryoti c DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferases, the origin recognition complex 1 (Or c1) proteins, as web as several proteins involved in transcriptional regula tion. The BAH domain appears to act as a protein-protein interaction module specialized in gene silencing, as suggested for example by its interaction within yeast Orc1p with the silent information regulator Sir1p. The BAH mo dule might therefore play an important role by linking DNA methylation, rep lication and transcriptional regulation. (C) 1999 Federation of European Bi ochemical Societies.