Interspecies conservation of organisation and function between nonhomologous regional centromeres.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31138803.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-09824-4 and PMC identifier 6538654.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Despite the conserved essential function of centromeres, centromeric DNA itself is not conserved. The histone-H3 variant, CENP-A, is the epigenetic mark that specifies centromere identity. Paradoxically, CENP-A normally assembles on particular sequences at specific genomic locations. To gain insight into the specification of complex centromeres, here we take an evolutionary approach, fully assembling genomes and centromeres of related fission yeasts. Centromere domain organization, but not sequence, is conserved between Schizosaccharomyces pombe, S. octosporus and S. cryophilus with a central CENP-A<sup>Cnp1</sup> domain flanked by heterochromatic outer-repeat regions. Conserved syntenic clusters of tRNA genes and 5S rRNA genes occur across the centromeres of S. octosporus and S. cryophilus, suggesting conserved function. Interestingly, nonhomologous centromere central-core sequences from S. octosporus and S. cryophilus are recognized in S. pombe, resulting in cross-species establishment of CENP-A<sup>Cnp1</sup> chromatin and functional kinetochores. Therefore, despite the lack of sequence conservation, Schizosaccharomyces centromere DNA possesses intrinsic conserved properties that promote assembly of CENP-A chromatin.
Medical subject headings
- Centromere
- Chromatin
- Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly
- Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
- DNA
- Schizosaccharomyces
- Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins