Chromatin transcription. I. Quantitative determination of gene-specific RNA by use of bacterial plasmids containing the eukaryotic DNA sequence of viral DNA.
Specific gene transcription from chromatin has been examined in two different systems by using direct measurement of specific sequences by hybridization with excess DNA probe. An improved procedure has been used for hybridization of DNA immobilized on filters. This procedure is sensitive to less than one part in 10(5). Polyoma RNA sequences were detected a level of 0.004% in the overall transcript from chromatin of ts-a-transformed 3T3 fibroblasts. By the use of constructed plasmid DNA carrying rabbit globin sequences, globin RNA was titrated in the RNA transcribed from chromatin of bone marrow cells. Its relative frequency was 0.01%. Results obtained with this new approach confirm that DNA in chromatin is not randomly transcribed. They further illustrate that a reproducible assay system is now available for studying control elements active on gene expression at the transcriptional level, taking advantage of the constructed plasmids containing eukaryotic gene DNA fragments.