The adjustment of X-linked gene expression to the X chromosome copy number (dosage compensation [DC]) has been widely studied as a model of chromosome-wide gene regulation. In Caenorhabditis elegans, DC is achieved by twofold down-regulation of gene expression from both Xs in hermaphrodites. We show that in males, the single X chromosome interacts with nuclear pore proteins, while in hermaphrodites, the DC complex (DCC) impairs this interaction and alters X localization. Our results put forward a structural model of DC in which X-specific sequences locate the X chromosome in transcriptionally active domains in males, while the DCC prevents this in hermaphrodites.
Keywords: C. elegans; dosage compensation; nuclear organization; nuclear pores.
© 2014 Sharma et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.