• HDAC1 SUMOylation promotes Argonaute-directed transcriptional silencing in C. elegans

      Kim, Heesun; Ding, Yue-He; Zhang, Gangming; Yan, Yong-Hong; Conte, Darryl Jr.; Dong, Meng-Qiu; Mello, Craig C. (2021-05-18)
      Eukaryotic cells use guided search to coordinately control dispersed genetic elements. Argonaute proteins and their small RNA cofactors engage nascent RNAs and chromatin-associated proteins to direct transcriptional silencing. The small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) has been shown to promote the formation and maintenance of silent chromatin (called heterochromatin) in yeast, plants, and animals. Here, we show that Argonaute-directed transcriptional silencing in Caenorhabditis elegans requires SUMOylation of the type 1 histone deacetylase HDA-1. Our findings suggest how SUMOylation promotes the association of HDAC1 with chromatin remodeling factors and with a nuclear Argonaute to initiate de novo heterochromatin silencing.