Conserved euchromatin, diverse heterochromatin across eukaryotes revealed by iChIP2 profiling
A Nature Genetics letter reports a cross‑species chromatin profiling approach (iChIP2) to map histone post‑translational modifications across diverse eukaryotes. The study finds highly conserved euchromatin states at active gene promoters and bodies, but reveals lineage‑specific heterochromatin configurations defined by combinations of marks such as H3K9me3, H3K27me3 and H3K79 methylations. The results suggest core histone marks are ancient and broadly conserved, while their functional readouts have diversified through evolution to shape different chromatin landscapes and epigenetic memory across lineages.
