Tag

Centromeres

All articles tagged with #centromeres

science14 days ago•74 min saved

LTR retrotransposons sculpt the origin of point centromeres in yeasts

Researchers map centromeres across Saccharomycodales and find proto-point centromeres—compact, single Cse4 nucleosomes on AT-rich CDEII with variable flanking motifs—often embedded in Ty5 LTR retrotransposon clusters. Phylogenetic analyses suggest proto-point and point centromeres share an ancient origin and that Ty5 elements provided the genetic substrate for the evolution of genetically defined point centromeres, illustrating how selfish elements can be co-opted for essential chromosome segregation.

via Nature|

#centromeres #proto-point-centromeres #retrotransposons

science1 year ago•2 min saved

Centromeres: Key Drivers of Evolutionary Change

Researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered that centromeres, crucial for cell division, can rapidly reorganize over short evolutionary timescales, suggesting they may be hotspots for evolutionary innovation. This finding, observed in fruit flies, challenges the notion that essential genetic structures are highly conserved, revealing instead that centromeres undergo dramatic shifts in their genetic elements. The study highlights the potential implications for understanding genome instability-related diseases, such as cancer.

via Phys.org|

#centromeres #chromosome-biology #evolution