A unified phylogeny-based nomenclature for histone variants

• Main Authors: Talbert Paul B, Ahmad Kami, Almouzni Geneviève, Ausió Juan, Berger Frederic, Bhalla Prem L, Bonner William M, Cande W, Chadwick Brian P, Chan Simon W L, Cross George A M, Cui Liwang, Dimitrov Stefan I, Doenecke Detlef, Eirin-López José M, Gorovsky Martin A, Hake Sandra B, Hamkalo Barbara A, Holec Sarah, Jacobsen Steven E, Kamieniarz Kinga, Khochbin Saadi, Ladurner Andreas G, Landsman David, Latham John A, Loppin Benjamin, Malik Harmit S, Marzluff William F, Pehrson John R, Postberg Jan, Schneider Robert, Singh Mohan B, Smith M, Thompson Eric, Torres-Padilla Maria-Elena, Tremethick David, Turner Bryan M, Waterborg Jakob, Wollmann Heike, Yelagandula Ramesh, Zhu Bing, Henikoff Steven
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-06-01
• Series: Epigenetics & Chromatin
• Online Access: http://www.epigeneticsandchromatin.com/content/5/1/7

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Histone variants are non-allelic protein isoforms that play key roles in diversifying chromatin structure. The known number of such variants has greatly increased in recent years, but the lack of naming conventions for them has led to a variety of naming styles, multiple synonyms and misleading homographs that obscure variant relationships and complicate database searches. We propose here a unified nomenclature for variants of all five classes of histones that uses consistent but flexible naming conventions to produce names that are informative and readily searchable. The nomenclature builds on historical usage and incorporates phylogenetic relationships, which are strong predictors of structure and function. A key feature is the consistent use of punctuation to represent phylogenetic divergence, making explicit the relationships among variant subtypes that have previously been implicit or unclear. We recommend that by default new histone variants be named with organism-specific paralog-number suffixes that lack phylogenetic implication, while letter suffixes be reserved for structurally distinct clades of variants. For clarity and searchability, we encourage the use of descriptors that are separate from the phylogeny-based variant name to indicate developmental and other properties of variants that may be independent of structure.</p>