Formation of a Functional Maize Centromere after Loss of Centromeric Sequences and Gain of Ectopic Sequences

Zhang, Bing; Lv, Zhenling; Pang, Junling; Liu, Yalin; Guo, Xiang; Fu, Shulan; Li, Jun; Dong, Qingyu; Wu, Hua‐Jun; Gao, Zhi; Wang, Xiu‐Jie; Han, Fangpu

doi:10.1105/tpc.113.110015

Cited by 42 publications

(74 citation statements)

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“…Another example was a newly formed B chromosome-centromere, which lacked maize centromeric sequence CentC and contained an extremely low content of CRM and B-repeat (B chromosome specific repeat) sequences. Immunostaining and other analysis also revealed the formation of a neocentromere, which was located on an 723 kb region of chromosome 9S [43]. Taken together, the results revealed that centromeric DNA sequences are not necessary for centromere formation.…”

Section: Centromere Identity Is Epigenetically Determinedsupporting

confidence: 55%

Recent advances in plant centromere biology

Feng

Liu

et al. 2015

Sci. China Life Sci.

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The centromere, which is one of the essential parts of a chromosome, controls kinetochore formation and chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. While centromere function is conserved in eukaryotes, the centromeric DNA sequences evolve rapidly and have few similarities among species. The histone H3 variant CENH3 (CENP-A in human), which mostly exists in centromeric nucleosomes, is a universal active centromere mark in eukaryotes and plays an essential role in centromere identity determination. The relationship between centromeric DNA sequences and centromere identity determination is one of the intriguing questions in studying centromere formation. Due to the discoveries in the past decades, including "neocentromeres" and "centromere inactivation", it is now believed that the centromere identity is determined by epigenetic mechanisms. This review will present recent progress in plant centromere biology. centromere, epigenetics, CENH3

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Section: Centromere Identity Is Epigenetically Determinedsupporting

confidence: 55%

Recent advances in plant centromere biology

Feng

Liu

et al. 2015

Sci. China Life Sci.

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“…In contrast, normal maize centromeres, as noted above, are typically several megabases. The regular occurrence of de novo centromeres found here and previously (24,25) indicates that they are capable of being formed regularly on chromosomal fragments that are structurally acentric; however, they do not persist in normal chromosomes. The reason might reside in the previous observation in maize (30) and wheat (32) that in functional dicentrics the smaller centromere becomes inactive in a tug of war between large and small.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 78%

“…There are also de novo centromeres in human formed far from native centromeres (20). We have previously described two de novo centromeres in maize: one is near the position of the native centromere (25) and the other is distal to the site of the corresponding native centromere (24). Specific chromatin environments may be required for centromere formation, but the major elements are as yet unknown.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Sequential de novo centromere formation and inactivation on a chromosomal fragment in maize

Liu

Pang

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The ability of centromeres to alternate between active and inactive states indicates significant epigenetic aspects controlling centromere assembly and function. In maize (Zea mays), misdivision of the B chromosome centromere on a translocation with the short arm of chromosome 9 (TB-9Sb) can produce many variants with varying centromere sizes and centromeric DNA sequences. In such derivatives of TB-9Sb, we found a de novo centromere on chromosome derivative 3-3, which has no canonical centromeric repeat sequences. This centromere is derived from a 288-kb region on the short arm of chromosome 9, and is 19 megabases (Mb) removed from the translocation breakpoint of chromosome 9 in TB-9Sb. The functional B centromere in progenitor telo2-2 is deleted from derivative 3-3, but some B-repeat sequences remain. The de novo centromere of derivative 3-3 becomes inactive in three further derivatives with new centromeres being formed elsewhere on each chromosome. Our results suggest that de novo centromere initiation is quite common and can persist on chromosomal fragments without a canonical centromere. However, we hypothesize that when de novo centromeres are initiated in opposition to a larger normal centromere, they are cleared from the chromosome by inactivation, thus maintaining karyotype integrity.centromere misdivision | epigenetics | de novo centromere | centromere inactivation T he centromere is an important chromosomal region responsible for correct chromosome segregation during cell division. Centromeres are found in the primary constriction region on the chromosome, upon which the kinetochore complex assembles to produce a platform for spindle binding (1). Centromere function is conserved among different species, and several epigenetic markers of active centromeres have been found, including a histone H3 variant referred to as CENH3 in plants (2, 3) or CENP-A in animals (4-6) and phosphorylation of histone H2A at Thr133 in plants (7). Correct loading of CENH3 to the centromere region is a key component of kinetochore assembly (8). Centromeric DNA sequences have experienced rapid evolution (9, 10), and arrangements of DNA sequence in centromere regions differ in species and even in different chromosomes of an individual organism (11). Myriad repeat sequences exist in the centromeres of higher plants. In maize (Zea mays), there are two major types of centromere specific DNA sequences: the simple satellite repeat sequence CentC (12) and centromeric retrotransposon of maize (CRM) (3). Many epigenetic features have been identified in centromeric regions, including DNA methylation levels, histone variants, histone modifications, and RNA components (11). Both epigenetic elements and DNA sequences take part in centromere formation and maintenance, but it is still unknown how genetic and epigenetic factors work together in this process.The centromere is one of the most complex regions on the chromosome, and complete DNA sequencing through the centromeric region is difficult to obtain due to their highly repetitive nature...

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“…Neocentromere activation is usually associated with the loss of the original centromere (duSart et al 1997), or with inactivation but retention of the original centromere on the same chromosome (Amor et al 2004;Wang et al 2014). The vast majority of neocentromeres, including several plant neocentromeres (Nasuda et al 2005;Fu et al 2013;Wang et al 2014;Zhang et al 2013a), do not contain long arrays of satellite repeats that are typically associated with centromeres. The neocentromeric DNA sequences are generally deficient in genes, but otherwise not distinct from average genome sequences (Marshall et al 2008;Wang et al 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%