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What functions do linker histones provide?

Linker histones have long been known to facilitate chromatin condensation in vitro. For many years, this activity led to speculation that these proteins function as global repressors of transcription. However, work from numerous systems has demonstrated that this is not the case, and that linker histones appear to affect only the transcription of a small subset of genes, and, in fact, act to activate as well as repress transcription. Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests that linker histones are not required for mitotic condensation. In this review, we focus on studies of biological functions of linker histones primarily performed in unicellular eukaryotes. We highlight recent developments pointing towards linker histone involvement in DNA repair and ageing, which raise the possibility that the biological functions of linker histones are more varied than previously imagined.