Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biology

Reader 1

Jennifer Armstrong

Reader 2

Patrick Ferree

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© 2021 Breanna Kim

Abstract

Chromodomain-helicase-DNA-binding-protein-1 (CHD1) is a highly conserved ATP- dependent remodeling protein. It is localized to active genes and directs nucleosome spacing, while its loss has been linked to various human diseases, such as human prostate cancer. In Drosophila, CHD1 is important for fertility and wing development, and overexpression of CHD1 leads to severe wing vein defect phenotypes. The Linker Histone H1, which is known for maintaining heterochromatin and is associated with inactive genes, had been previously identified as a possible functional partner of CHD1, though the exact nature of their interaction is unclear. I undertook a genetic approach to examining the interaction between CHD1 and H1, making use of a novel genetic assay that had been previously developed in the Armstrong lab. This genetic assay uses the wing vein defects caused by CHD1 overexpression to identify factors that influence CHD1 function. I observed that CHD1 overexpression with the simultaneous knockdown of H1 resulted in an increase in the severity of wing vein defects, leading me to refine our working model for CHD1 and H1 interactions. Our working model suggests that CHD1 and H1 work competitively towards each other, with the absence of H1 allowing for increased CHD1 binding.

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