<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV class="MsoNormal">Spring 2008 Seminar Series on Computational and Systems Biology</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Friday, February 29, 2008</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">3:00<SPAN style=""><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-variant: small-caps;"> pm</SPAN></SPAN> – 4:00 <SPAN style=""><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-variant: small-caps;">pm</SPAN></SPAN></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Room 3-270</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> <O:P></O:P></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Presenting:</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B>Dr. Jonathan Widom</B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><I>Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University</I></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> <O:P></O:P></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Title: <B><I>The Genomic Code for Nucleosome Positioning</I></B><SPAN style="font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Abstract: <SPAN style="color:black">Eukaryotic genomes encode an additional layer of genetic information, superimposed on top of the regulatory and coding information that controls the organization of the genomic DNA into arrays of nucleosomes.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We have developed a partial ability to read this nucleosome positioning code and predict the in vivo locations of nucleosomes, using two independent approaches.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>One approach is based on a statistical profile of natural nucleosome DNAs, the other on a dinucleotide mechanics model derived from X-ray crystallographic studies of non-nucleosomal protein-DNA complexes. Our results suggest that genomes utilize the nucleosome positioning code to facilitate specific chromosome functions including to delineate functional versus nonfunctional binding sites for key gene regulatory proteins, and to define the next higher level of chromosome structure itself.</SPAN><O:P></O:P></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> <O:P></O:P></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Light refreshments to be served at 2:45 <SPAN style="font-variant:small-caps"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-variant: small-caps;">pm</SPAN></SPAN></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> <O:P></O:P></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Host:</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Paul Wiggins, Whitehead Institute</DIV></BODY></HTML>