Xin Bi Research Group

University of Rochester

How do silencers and chromatin elements determine the spatial limits of gene silencing and expression in yeast models? The group investigates whether silencers act in an orientation-dependent fashion by examining cis-acting DNA elements and trans-acting protein factors using genetic and biochemical assays. Researchers study how barrier elements restrict Sir complex spreading by characterizing identified barrier sequences and testing their ability to block silent chromatin propagation. The lab tests whether histone hypoacetylation rather than chromatin compaction is the primary mechanism of repression by manipulating targeted histone acetyltransferases and measuring nucleosome acetylation and transcription. Ongoing projects include DNA damage tolerance and chromatin boundary element studies reported in the group's selected publications.