Absence of canonical active chromatin marks in developmentally regulated genes

The interplay of active and repressive histone modifications is assumed to play a key role in the regulation of gene expression. In contrast to this generally accepted view, we show that transcription of genes temporally regulated during fly and worm development occurs in the absence of canonically active histone modifications. Conversely, strong chromatin marking is related to transcriptional and post-transcriptional stability, an association that we also observe in mammals. Our results support a model in which chromatin marking is associated to stable production of RNA, while unmarked chromatin would permit rapid gene activation and de-activation during development. In this case, regulation by transcription factors would play a comparatively more important regulatory role.