However, strains bearing the histone H3 K56R substitution, for example, were indistinguishable from wild type by sectoring pattern, yet showed a significant increase in the frequency of half-sectored colonies.
The strength of the first harmonic of the northern field suggests that this structure may be related to the 4-sector pattern observed in the IMF polarity.
The resonance region progressively shifts toward lower latitude with increasing frequency; correspondingly, the four-sector pattern progressively disappears at TNB. Above f ∼ 20 mHz, the experimental observations might suggest an additional contribution from Sunward propagating waves, possibly via the magnetotail lobes.
The sectoring pattern (number and size of sectors) reflects the rate of viable plasmid loss, and thus provides a measure of the efficiency of suppression.
For Figure 7C, however, we found that some genotypes (in particular, strains containing the histone H3 K56R substitution) displayed frequencies of half-sectored colonies that were unexpected based upon the sectoring phenotypes, thus challenging us to consider the ways in which half-sector occurrence could have diverged from the overall sectoring pattern.
Differences in sectoring patterns were reflected by differences in the frequency of half-sectored colonies for the genotypes shown in Figures 3, 5, 6 and 7A.
Differences between sectoring patterns and half-sector frequencies are considered further in the 'Discussion'.
The colonies of hst1Δ, hst2Δ and hst4Δ mutants exhibited sectoring patterns that were indistinguishable from wild-type colonies.
Collectively, the sectoring patterns suggested that Hst3 promoted the stability of silencing through the deacetylation of histone H3 K56-ac.
Overall, both assays were informative, and sectoring patterns in particular provided the opportunity to survey heterochromatin dynamics throughout the various microenvironments and metabolic states of colonies.
