Skip Navigation

Nucleic Acids Research 2006 34(6):1912-1924; doi:10.1093/nar/gkl137
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow Print PDF (1597K) Freely available
Right arrow Screen PDF (1607K) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrow Commercial Re-use Guidelines
for Open Access NAR Content
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Roizès, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Roizès, G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published online 5 April 2006

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Article

Human centromeric alphoid domains are periodically homogenized so that they vary substantially between homologues. Mechanism and implications for centromere functioning

Gérard Roizès*

Institut de Génétique Humaine, UPR 1142, CNRS 141 Rue de la Cardonille, 34396 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

*Tel: +33 0 4 99 61 99 64; Fax: +33 0 4 99 61 99 01; Email: roizes{at}igh.cnrs.fr

Received January 25, 2006. Revised February 21, 2006. Accepted March 15, 2006.

Sequence analysis of alphoid repeats from human chromosomes 17, 21 and 13 reveals recurrent diagnostic variant nucleotides. Their combinations define haplotypes, with higher order repeats (HORs) containing identical or closely-related haplotypes tandemly arranged into separate domains. The haplotypes found on homologues can be totally different, while HORs remain 99.8% homogeneous both intrachromosomally and between homologues. These results support the hypothesis, never before demonstrated, that unequal crossovers between sister chromatids accumulate to produce homogenization and amplification into tandem alphoid repeats. I propose that the molecular basis of this involves the diagnostic variant nucleotides, which enable pairing between HORs with identical or closely-related haplotypes. Domains are thus periodically renewed to maintain high intrachromosomal and interhomologue homogeneity. The capacity of a domain to form an active centromere is maintained as long as neither retrotransposons nor significant numbers of mutations affect it. In the presented model, a chromosome with an altered centromere can be transiently rescued by forming a neocentromere, until a restored, fully-competent domain is amplified de novo or rehomogenized through the accumulation of unequal crossovers.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. Villasante, J. P. Abad, and M. Mendez-Lago
Centromeres were derived from telomeres during the evolution of the eukaryotic chromosome
PNAS, June 19, 2007; 104(25): 10542 - 10547.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
M. Ventura, F. Antonacci, M. F. Cardone, R. Stanyon, P. D'Addabbo, A. Cellamare, L. J. Sprague, E. E. Eichler, N. Archidiacono, and M. Rocchi
Evolutionary Formation of New Centromeres in Macaque
Science, April 13, 2007; 316(5822): 243 - 246.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.