Genome-Wide Profiling of Histone Modifications with ChIP-Seq

Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a widely used method for mapping the genome-wide locations of chromatin-associated proteins. This protocol has been developed and utilized to perform ChIP on histone covalent modifications in various plant species including cereals. DNA and chromatin-associated proteins are crosslinked with formaldehyde. Chromatin is then isolated from nuclei and sheared via sonication. Antibodies targeting the histone modification of interest are incubated with the sheared chromatin and nonspecific interactions are washed away. DNA is purified via phenol-chloroform extraction, end-repaired, ligated to sequencing adapters, and PCR-amplified.