TY - JOUR T1 - Chromatin accessibility dynamics across <em>C. elegans</em> development and ageing JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/279158 SP - 279158 AU - Jürgen Jänes AU - Yan Dong AU - Michael Schoof AU - Jacques Serizay AU - Alex Appert AU - Chiara Cerrato AU - Carson Woodbury AU - Ron Chen AU - Carolina Gemma AU - Ni Huang AU - Djem Kissiov AU - Przemysław Stempor AU - Annette Steward AU - Eva Zeiser AU - Sascha Sauer AU - Julie Ahringer Y1 - 2018/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/03/10/279158.abstract N2 - Transcription regulation controls a large fraction of animal development and physiology from birth to death. Here we present the first map of transcriptional regulatory elements and their activity across the development and ageing of an animal. We identify 42,245 accessible elements in at least one C. elegans stage, defining 13,817 as protein-coding promoters and 17,918 as putative enhancers based on nuclear transcription profiles. Most show bidirectional transcription initiation, and in transgenic assays, both enhancers and promoters can drive orientation independent transcription of protein coding genes. Most elements have regulated accessibility during development or ageing, and accessibility patterns at promoters are linked to specific developmental or physiological processes. Histone modification patterns of promoters and enhancers significantly overlap and are correlated with transcriptional activity rather than element type. The map and characterization of regulatory elements across the life of the organism provides new entry points for understanding how transcription controls development and ageing. ER -