Measuring Arabidopsis chromatin accessibility using DNase I-polymerase chain reaction and DNase I-chip assays

Plant Physiol. 2013 Aug;162(4):1794-801. doi: 10.1104/pp.113.220400. Epub 2013 Jun 5.

Abstract

DNA accessibility is an important layer of regulation of DNA-dependent processes. Methods that measure DNA accessibility at local and genome-wide scales have facilitated a rapid increase in the knowledge of chromatin architecture in animal and yeast systems. In contrast, much less is known about chromatin organization in plants. We developed a robust DNase I-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol for the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). DNA accessibility is probed by digesting nuclei with a gradient of DNase I followed by locus-specific PCR. The reduction in PCR product formation along the gradient of increasing DNase I concentrations is used to determine the accessibility of the chromatin DNA. We explain a strategy to calculate the decay constant of such signal reduction as a function of increasing DNase I concentration. This allows describing DNA accessibility using a single variable: the decay constant. We also used the protocol together with AGRONOMICS1 DNA tiling microarrays to establish genome-wide DNase I sensitivity landscapes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Cell Nucleus / genetics
  • Chromatin / genetics
  • Chromatin / metabolism*
  • Deoxyribonuclease I / genetics
  • Deoxyribonuclease I / metabolism*
  • Genome, Plant
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / methods
  • Permeability
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Chromatin
  • Deoxyribonuclease I