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Emil Heitz, a true epigenetics pioneer

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 20, page 572 (2019)Cite this article

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The discovery of transposons by Barbara McClintock is a foundation of epigenetics. Transposons and their epigenetic modifications define non-transcribed regions of the genome termed heterochromatin, and their deregulation is associated with cancer. The origin of the term heterochromatin has become obscure — it was defined by Emil Heitz (1892–1965) in the first half of the 20th century.

In 1928, Heitz improved a cytological staining method and discovered that certain parts of mitotic chromosomes are more densely stained than others, thereby defining heterochromatin and euchromatin, respectively. The work was performed in liverworts, of which a model organism is Marchantia polymorpha. The compartmentation of chromatin was documented by Heitz in >70 species of bryophytes and in >70 species of flowering plants.

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References

Original articles

  • Heitz, E. Das Heterochromatin der Moose. I. Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 69, 762–818 (1928)

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  • Heitz, E. Gescleschtschromosomen bei einem Laubmoos (Vorläufige Mitteilung). Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges. 50, 204–206 (1932)

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  • Heitz, E. & Bauer, H. Beweise für die Chromosomennatur der Kernschleifen in den Knäuelkernen von Bibio hortulanus L. (Cytologische Untersuchungen an Dipteren, I). Z. Zellforsch. Mikrosk. Anat. 17, 67–82 (1933)

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  • Heitz, E. Heterochromatin, Chromocentren, Chromomeren (Vorläufige Mitteilung). Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges. 47, 274–284 (1929)

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  1. Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna, Austria

    Frédéric Berger

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  1. Frédéric Berger
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Correspondence to Frédéric Berger.

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Berger, F. Emil Heitz, a true epigenetics pioneer. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 20, 572 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0161-z

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