Faculty Sponsor: Prof. Scott Holmes (MB&B)
Simon Moss
Simon is a rising sophomore (’26) from Oakland, CA. He graduated from Saint Mary’s College High School in 2022. He is interested in pursuing a major in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MB&B) and a minor in Data Analysis (QAC). Simon enjoys running, playing all kinds of sports, and spending time with friends and family. He plans on stalling for time while he figures out what he wants to do after graduating.
Abstract: Nucleosomes are critical to the organization of DNA into chromatin. DNA wraps around the nucleosome, allowing the nucleosome to regulate gene expression. Nucleosomes are made of eight histone proteins: two copies of each H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. There is a fifth “linker” histone, H1, that sits at the DNA entrance/exit point on the nucleosome. Histone H1 and histone H2A.Z (a variant of histone H2A) have less obvious functions than the core histones in S. cerevisiae. Previous experiments in the Holmes lab have suggested that H1 may have a rescue effect on the defects caused by the lack of H2A.Z and that H1 may act as a general silencer across the yeast genome. RNA-sequencing data quantifies gene expression I conducted bioinformatics analysis on RNA-seq data to determine the differential expression of genes between a wild type, as well as strains lacking H1, H2A.Z, and Swr1 (the protein that swaps H2A for H2A.Z) and every combination of these genes. This gene expression data can support hypotheses about the function of H1 and H2A.Z from wet lab experiments and illuminate new interactions that are not obvious in phenotypic studies. Unveiling the functions of H1 and H2A.Z in S. cerevisiae expands our understanding of DNA organization for all organisms and expands on our growing knowledge of histone-driven gene regulation.
Simon-Moss-Poster-Summer-2023-2