Z curve theory-based analysis of the dynamic nature of nucleosome positioning in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Nucleosome is the elementary structural unit of eukaryotic chromatin. Instability of nucleosome positioning plays critical roles in chromatin remodeling in differentiation and disease. In this study, we investigated nucleosome dynamics in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome using a geometric model based on Z curve theory. We identified 52,941 stable nucleosomes and 7607 dynamic nucleosomes, compiling them into a genome-wide nucleosome dynamic positioning map and constructing a user-friendly visualization platform (http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/nucleosome). Our approach achieved a sensitivity of 90.31% and a specificity of 87.76% for S. cerevisiae. Analysis revealed transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) were enriched in linkers. And among the sparse nucleosomes around TFBSs, dynamic nucleosomes were slightly preferred. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated that stable and dynamic nucleosomes were enriched on genes involved in different biological processes and functions. This study provides an approach for comprehending chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation of genes.