Question

Typically, acetylation of histone tails leads to________.

a. tighter packaging of the chromatin and reduced transcription.
b. increased amounts of euchromatin relative to heterochromatin.
c.activation of topoisomerase.
d. removal of the protein components of the chromatin from the DNA.
e. relaxed packaging of the chromatin and increased transcription

Answer 1

The correct answer is e. relaxed packaging of the chromatin and increased transcription.

Step-by-step explanation:

Histone acetylation and deacetylation play an important role in regulating the expression of the gene. Histone protein contains positively charged amino acids which makes electrostatic interaction with negatively charged DNA that helps in tight packaging of DNA into chromatin.

For transcription to occur this chromatin should be loosely packed so in histone acetylation acetyl group is covalently attached by acetyltransferases to lysine residue in histone tail. As the acetyl group is negatively charged it neutralizes the positive charge of histone(lysine) and allows the chromatin to become relaxed and open for transcription.

Therefore acetylation of histone tail leads to relaxed packaging of the chromatin and increased transcription.