Neocentromeres come of age

Whereas previously centromeres had been thought of as immovable and unchanging, embedded in vast tracts of tandemly repeated DNA, this new centromere--or neocentromere--lacked any characteristic centromeric DNA sequences and had formed in a gene-rich area of the genome. Neocentromere formation rem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PLoS genetics Vol. 5; no. 3; p. e1000370
Main Authors:	Marshall, Owen J, Choo, K H Andy
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 01-03-2009 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Candida albicans Candida albicans - genetics Candida albicans - metabolism Centromere - genetics Centromeres Chromosomes Chromosomes, Fungal - genetics Epigenetics Evolution, Molecular Fungal Proteins - genetics Fungal Proteins - metabolism Genetic aspects Genetic transcription Genetics Genomes Physiological aspects Proteins Transcription, Genetic Australia
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Summary:	Whereas previously centromeres had been thought of as immovable and unchanging, embedded in vast tracts of tandemly repeated DNA, this new centromere--or neocentromere--lacked any characteristic centromeric DNA sequences and had formed in a gene-rich area of the genome. Neocentromere formation remains one of the most astonishing examples of epigenetic change within the genome. Since this discovery, neocentromeres (not to be confused with the "classical" facultative neocentromeres, which were originally described in maize (reviewed in [3]) have been shown to be a means of centromere repositioning during karyotype evolution and speciation in vertebrates, with evidence suggesting a similar role in plants (for review, see [4]).
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1553-7404 1553-7390 1553-7404
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pgen.1000370