Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Biochemistry, 1973.

Eukaryotic genomes are pervasively transcribed and frequently generate long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). However, most lncRNAs remain uncharacterized. In this work, a set of positionally conserved intergenic lncRNAs in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome are selected for further analysis. Deleting one of these lncRNA genes (ncRNA.1343) exhibited a clear phenotype: increased drug sensitivity. Further analyses revealed that deleting ncRNA.1343 also disrupted a previously unannotated lncRNA, termed nc-tgp1, transcribed in the opposite orientation of the predicted ncRNA.1343 gene and into the promoter of the phosphate-responsive permease gene tgp1+. Detailed analyses revealed that the act of transcribing nc-tgp1 into the tgp1+ promoter increases nucleosome density and prevents transcription factor access. Decreased nc-tgp1 transcription permits tgp1+ expression upon phosphate starvation, while nc-tgp1 loss induces tgp1+ in repressive phosphate-rich conditions. Notably, drug sensitivity results directly from tgp1+ expression in the absence of nc-tgp1 transcription. Similarly, lncRNA transcription upstream of pho1+, another phosphate-regulated gene, increases nucleosome density and prevents transcription factor binding to repress pho1+ in phosphate-replete cells. Importantly, the regulation of tgp1+ and pho1+ by upstream lncRNA transcription occurs in the absence of RNAi and heterochromatin components. Instead, the regulation of tgp1+ and pho1+ by upstream lncRNA transcription resembles examples of transcriptional interference reported in other organisms. Thus, tgp1+ and pho1+ are the first documented examples of genes regulated by transcriptional interference in S. pombe.