Retrotransposon insertion targeting: a mechanism for homogenization of centromere sequences on nonhomologous chromosomes
- 1Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri at Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA;
- 2Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
Abstract
The centromeres of most eukaryotic organisms consist of highly repetitive arrays that are similar across nonhomologous chromosomes. These sequences evolve rapidly, thus posing a mystery as to how such arrays can be homogenized. Recent work in species in which centromere-enriched retrotransposons occur indicates that these elements preferentially insert into the centromeric regions. In two different Arabidopsis species, a related element was recognized in which the specificity for such targeting was altered. These observations provide a partial explanation for how homogenization of centromere DNA sequences occurs.
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↵3 Corresponding author.
E-mail birchlerj{at}missouri.edu.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.191049.112.
- Copyright © 2012 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
