Kinetochores of grasshoppers with Robertsonian chromosome fusions

Chromosoma ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Moens
PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. e1009743
Author(s):  
Klaas Schotanus ◽  
Vikas Yadav ◽  
Joseph Heitman

Deletion of native centromeres in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus deuterogattii leads to neocentromere formation. Native centromeres span truncated transposable elements, while neocentromeres do not and instead span actively expressed genes. To explore the epigenetic organization of neocentromeres, we analyzed the distribution of the heterochromatic histone modification H3K9me2, 5mC DNA methylation and the euchromatin mark H3K4me2. Native centromeres are enriched for both H3K9me2 and 5mC DNA methylation marks and are devoid of H3K4me2, while neocentromeres do not exhibit any of these features. Neocentromeres in cen10Δ mutants are unstable and chromosome-chromosome fusions occur. After chromosome fusion, the neocentromere is inactivated and the native centromere of the chromosome fusion partner remains as the sole, active centromere. In the present study, the active centromere of a fused chromosome was deleted to investigate if epigenetic memory promoted the re-activation of the inactive neocentromere. Our results show that the inactive neocentromere is not re-activated and instead a novel neocentromere forms directly adjacent to the deleted centromere of the fused chromosome. To study the impact of transcription on centromere stability, the actively expressed URA5 gene was introduced into the CENP-A bound regions of a native centromere. The introduction of the URA5 gene led to a loss of CENP-A from the native centromere, and a neocentromere formed adjacent to the native centromere location. Remarkably, the inactive, native centromere remained enriched for heterochromatin, yet the integrated gene was expressed and devoid of H3K9me2. A cumulative analysis of multiple CENP-A distribution profiles revealed centromere drift in C. deuterogattii, a previously unreported phenomenon in fungi. The CENP-A-binding shifted within the ORF-free regions and showed a possible association with a truncated transposable element. Taken together, our findings reveal that neocentromeres in C. deuterogattii are highly unstable and are not marked with an epigenetic memory, distinguishing them from native centromeres.


2017 ◽  
Vol 153 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie McClure ◽  
Bernard Dutrillaux ◽  
Anne-Marie Dutrillaux ◽  
Vladimir Lukhtanov ◽  
Marianne Elias

Mitotic and meiotic chromosomes from 2 taxa of the genus Melinaea, M. satevis cydon and M. “satevis” tarapotensis (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), and from hybrids produced in captivity were obtained using an improved spreading technique and were subsequently analyzed. In one of the taxa, the presence of trivalents and tetravalents at diakinesis/metaphase I is indicative of heterozygosity for multiple chromosome fusions or fissions, which might explain the highly variable number of chromosomes previously reported in this genus. Two large and complex multivalents were observed in the meiotic cells of the hybrid males (32 chromosomes) obtained from a cross between M. “s.” tarapotensis (28 chromosomes) and M. s. cydon (40-43 chromosomes). The contribution of the 2 different haploid karyotypes to these complex figures during meiosis is discussed, and a taxonomic revision is proposed. We conclude that chromosome evolution is active and ongoing, that the karyotype of the common ancestor consisted of at least 48 chromosomes, and that evolution by chromosome fusion rather than fission is responsible for this pattern. Complex chromosome evolution in this genus may drive reproductive isolation and speciation, and highlights the difficulties inherent to the systematics of this group. We also show that Melinaea chromosomes, classically considered as holocentric, are attached to unique, rather than multiple, spindle fibers.


2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 637-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Huang ◽  
J. Wang ◽  
W. Nie ◽  
W. Su ◽  
F. Yang

Genetics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 214 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Di Stefano ◽  
Francesca Di Giovanni ◽  
Vasilisa Pozharskaia ◽  
Mercè Gomar-Alba ◽  
Davide Baù ◽  
...  

The three-dimensional (3D) organization of chromosomes can influence transcription. However, the frequency and magnitude of these effects remain debated. To determine how changes in chromosome positioning affect transcription across thousands of genes with minimal perturbation, we characterized nuclear organization and global gene expression in budding yeast containing chromosome fusions. We used computational modeling and single-cell imaging to determine chromosome positions, and integrated these data with genome-wide transcriptional profiles from RNA sequencing. We find that chromosome fusions dramatically alter 3D nuclear organization without leading to strong genome-wide changes in transcription. However, we observe a mild but significant and reproducible increase in the expression of genes displaced away from the periphery. The increase in transcription is inversely proportional to the propensity of a given locus to be at the nuclear periphery; for example, a 10% decrease in the propensity of a gene to reside at the nuclear envelope is accompanied by a 10% increase in gene expression. Modeling suggests that this is due to both deletion of telomeres and to displacement of genes relative to the nuclear periphery. These data suggest that basal transcriptional activity is sensitive to radial changes in gene position, and provide insight into the functional relevance of budding yeast chromosome-level 3D organization in gene expression.


Cell Reports ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1320-1332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Bartocci ◽  
Jolene K. Diedrich ◽  
Iliana Ouzounov ◽  
Julia Li ◽  
Andrea Piunti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
RAÚL FERNÁNDEZ-DONOSO ◽  
SOLEDAD BERRÍOS ◽  
JESUS PAGE ◽  
MARÍA S MERANI ◽  
MARTA S LIZARRALDE ◽  
...  

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