Trichostatin A and 5-azacytidine both cause an increase in global histone H4 acetylation and a decrease in global DNA and H3K9 methylation during mitosis in maize

Treatment with trichostatin A, which inhibits histone deacetylases, resulted in increased histone H4 acetylation accompanied by the decondensation of interphase chromatin and a decrease in both global H3K9 dimethylation and DNA methylation during mitosis in maize root tip cells. These observations suggest that histone acetylation may affect DNA and histone methylation during mitosis. Treatment with 5-azacytidine, a cytosine analog that reduces DNA methylation, caused chromatin decondensation and mediated an increase in H4 acetylation, in addition to reduced DNA methylation and H3K9 dimethylation during interphase and mitosis. These results suggest that decreased DNA methylation causes a reduction in H3K9 dimethylation and an increase in H4 acetylation.The interchangeable effects of 5-azacytidine and trichostatin A on H4 acetylation, DNA methylation and H3K9 dimethylation indicate a mutually reinforcing action between histone acetylation, DNA methylation and histone methylation with respect to chromatin modification. Treatment with trichostatin A and 5-azacytidine treatment caused a decrease in the mitotic index, suggesting that H4 deacetylation and DNA and H3K9 methylation may contain the necessary information for triggering mitosis in maize root tips.The basic unit of chromatin in eukaryotes is the nucleosome, which is composed of ~146 base pairs of DNA wrapped around an octameric core of the histone molecules H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 [1,2]. The amino-terminal tails of these histones are subject to various post-translational modifications such as methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination and ADP-ribosylation [3]. Various histone-modifying enzymes able to add or remove chromatin modifications, including histone acetyltransferases (HATs), histone deacetylases (HDACs) and lysine methyltransferases, have been identified [3]. In yeast, HATs and HDACs have been found to alter global histone acetylation levels over large regions of chromatin [4]. DNA itself may