Dear Colleagues,

In eukaryotic cells genomic DNA and the highly conserved histone proteins form a nucleoprotein complex that is termed chromatin. Chromatin is a dynamic entity that varies in structure throughout the cell cycle. The basic repeating unit of the chromatin, the nucleosome, consists of 147 bp of DNA wrapped around an octamer of the histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4.  Chromatin assembly is a tightly regulated process that occurs during DNA replication, when parental and de novo synthesized histones are distributed among newly replicated DNA strands. Moreover, nucleosome assembly is required during transcription and in DNA repair and recombination. Thus, chromatin assembly is an integral part of many important DNA-utilizing processes.

In recent years it has become apparent that different mechanisms are used to assemble chromatin in a highly specific way involving a multitude of factors. The major components of chromatin assembly pathways are histone chaperones and ATP-dependent factors belonging to the SNF2 family of proteins. Several factors, such as the histone chaperones CAF1 or ASF1 or the ATPase ISWI, have been found to play important roles in replication-dependent assembly. In contrast, the chaperones Hira, Daxx and Dek and the ATPases CHD1, SWR1 and ATRX have been linked to replication-independent incorporation of histone variants. This Special Issue on Chromatin Assembly is dedicated to the review of recent developments in the field as well as to the featuring of research contributions that will further our understanding of the mechanisms that govern establishment and maintenance of the chromatin structure in the cell.

Alexandra Lusser
Guest Editor

• histone chaperone
• chromatin remodelling factor
• histone variant exchange
• replication-dependent chromatin assembly
• de novo chromatin assembly
• chromatin disassembly
• heterochromatin assembly
• histone H1 incorporation