| Definition: |
The compaction of chromatin into a conformation that is refractory to transcription but that can be converted to euchromatin and allow transcription in specific contexts. These can be temporal (e.g., developmental states or specific cell-cycle stages), spatial (e.g., nuclear localization changes from the center to the periphery or vice versa due to exogenous factors/signals), or parental/heritable (e.g., monoallelic gene expression). In metazoa, this involves the methylation of histone H3K27. |