Archaeal nucleosome positioning sequence from Methanothermus fervidus

DNA in Methanothermus fervidus, a hyperthermophilic archaeon, is constraine d into archaeal nucleosomes in vivo by the archaeal histones HMfA and HMfB. Here, we document the translational and rotational positioning of archaeal nucleosome assembly in vitro by a sequence from the 7S RNA encoding region of the M. fervidus genome. The minor groove of the DNA at the center of th e DNA sequence, protected from micrococcal nuclease digestion by incorporat ion into a positioned archaeal nucleosome, faces away from the archaeal his tone core. (C) 1999 Academic Press.