Defining flexible vs. inherent promoter architectures: The importance of dynamics and environmental considerations

The degree to which nucleosome positioning regulates transcription is an ongoing debate. To address this question, we recently followed dynamic changes in nucleosome occupancy, transcription factor binding and gene expression in yeast cells responding to oxidative stress. Integrating across these dynamic processes revealed new insights into the functions of nucleosome reorganization. Here, we used our data to address the extent to which upstream promoter architecture is a static feature inherent to specific genes vs. a dynamic platform that changes across conditions. Our results argue that, while some aspects of promoter architecture are fixed across environments, the level to which promoters are “open” or “covered” by nucleosomes depends on the conditions investigated.