Transcriptional silencers in the yeast Saccharomyces induce position-specific, sequence-independent repression by promoting formation of a heterochromatin-like structure across sequences adjacent to them. We have examined the role of silencers in maintenance and inheritance of repression at the silent mating-type cassettes in yeast by monitoring the expression state of one of these cassettes following in vivo deletion of the adjacent silencer. Our experiments indicate that although silencer

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... ences are dispensable for the maintenance of repression in the absence of cell-cycle progression, silencers are required for the stable inheritance of a repressed state. That is, silenced loci from which the silencer is deleted most often become derepressed within one generation of losing the silencer. Thus, the heritability of a repressed state is not intrinsic to a silenced locus or to the chromatin encompassing it; rather, heritability of repression appears to be a property of the silencer itself. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press on July 22, 2018 -Published by genesdev.cshlp.org Downloaded from 1022 GENES & DEVELOPMENT Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press on July 22, 2018 -Published by genesdev.cshlp.org Downloaded from GENES & DEVELOPMENT 1023 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press on July 22, 2018 -Published by genesdev.cshlp.org Downloaded from 1028 GENES & DEVELOPMENT Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press on July 22, 2018 -Published by genesdev.cshlp.org Downloaded from Access the most recent version at doi: 10: 1996, Genes Dev. S G Holmes and J R Broach Silencers are required for inheritance of the repressed state in yeast. References http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/10/8/1021.full.html#ref-list-1