Abstract
Mutations are the driving force behind genetic variation, fueling both the oncogenesis and evolution of species. The mutation rate varies across the genome, potentially in response to chromatin organization by histone modifications and other factors. However, the exact relationship between the two is yet to be fully understood and requires further investigation. One modification involves the methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9, which creates heterochromatin and represses transcription in euchromatin to maintain genome stability for organism survival. This study aimed to determine the effect of H3K9 methylation alone, without other histone markers, on the mutation rate in fission yeast using fluctuation assays and statistical analysis. Our groundbreaking method has been proven to accurately estimate mutation rates of a single gene under two different conditions in a single experiment using one isogenic clone. Our research results demonstrate that the H3K9me markers increase the phenotypic mutation rate of the same gene. For prospective researchers, this study presents an innovative experimental approach that ensures unparalleled accuracy in gene analysis for genetics applications and epigenetic therapy.