Chapter 12, Problem 15PDQ

Examples of histone modifications are acetylation (by histone acetyltransferase, or HAT), which is often linked to gene activation, and deacetylation (by histone deacetylases, or HDACs), which often leads to gene silencing typical of heterochromatin. Such heterochromatinization is initiated from a nucleation site and spreads bidirectionally until encountering boundaries that delimit the silenced areas. Recall from earlier in the text (see Chapter 4) the brief discussion of position effect, where repositioning of the w⁺ allele in Drosophila by translocation or inversion near heterochromatin produces intermittent w⁺ activity. In the heterozygous state (w⁺/w), a variegated eye is produced, with white and red patches. How might one explain position-effect variegation in terms of histone acetylation and/or deacetylation?