Chicken histone genes retain nuclear matrix association throughout the cell cycle.

The association between histone genes and the nuclear matrix (NM) during periods of high (S-phase) and low (non-S-phase) transcriptional activity has been investigated with synchronized cells from a chicken erythroid cell line (abbreviated ts34). By DNase I and restriction enzyme analysis, these studies reveal that both core and linker histone genes (represented by H2A and H1 genes respectively) are attached to the NM independent of their transcriptional activity during the cell-cycle. The tissue-specific histone gene H5, expressed constitutively, is nuclear matrix (NM)-associated in ts34 cells but is found in the supernatant (S/N) fractions of a non-erythroid T-cell line. Furthermore, we show that DNA sequences necessary for NM-attachment of the H5 gene lie within a 780 base pair region spanning part of the coding and 5' non-translated region. Of the three non-histone genes investigated, beta-actin sequences are expressed and are NM-attached, feather keratin genes are not expressed and predominate in the S/N, and beta-globin genes although not expressed in the ts34 cell line used were found in the NM fraction. In this case the association may be fortuitous or may reflect an early event prior to transcription of globin genes in differentiating erythroid cells. These results generally support the notion that actively transcribed genes are NM-attached, but that attachment per se is not synonymous with transcription.