Skip Navigation



Journal of Heredity Advance Access published online on January 13, 2005
Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esi029
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
96/3/217    most recent
esi029v1
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 arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ferreri, G. C.
Right arrow Articles by O'Neill, R. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ferreri, G. C.
Right arrow Articles by O'Neill, R. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2005 The American Genetic Association

Article

Retention of Latent Centromeres in the Mammalian Genome

G. C. Ferreri 1 *, D. M. Liscinsky 1 *, J. A. Mack 1, M. D. B. Eldridge 2, and R. J. O'Neill 1*

1 From the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, U-2131, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2131
2 From the Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
R. J. O'Neill, E-mail: roneill{at}uconnvm.uconn.edu


  Abstract

The centromere is a cytologically defined entity that possesses a conserved and restricted function in the cell: it is the site of kinetochore assembly and spindle attachment. Despite its conserved function, the centromere is a highly mutable portion of the chromosome, carrying little sequence conservation across taxa. This divergence has made studying the movement of a centromere, either within a single karyotype or between species, a challenging endeavor. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the permutability of centromere location within a chromosome. This permutability is termed "centromere repositioning" when described in an evolutionary context and "neocentromerization" when abnormalities within an individual karyotype are considered. Both are characterized by a shift in location of the functional centromere within a chromosome without a concomitant change in linear gene order. Evolutionary studies across lineages clearly indicate that centromere repositioning is not a rare event in karyotypic evolution and must be considered when examining the evolution of chromosome structure and syntenic order. This paper examines the theories proposed to explain centromere repositioning in mammals. These theories are interpreted in light of evidence gained in human studies and in our presented data from the marsupial model species Macropus eugenii, the tammar wallaby.

*Both authors contributed equally to this work.


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
 GeneticsHome page
S. W. Schaeffer, A. Bhutkar, B. F. McAllister, M. Matsuda, L. M. Matzkin, P. M. O'Grady, C. Rohde, V. L. S. Valente, M. Aguade, W. W. Anderson, et al.
Polytene Chromosomal Maps of 11 Drosophila Species: The Order of Genomic Scaffolds Inferred From Genetic and Physical Maps
Genetics, July 1, 2008; 179(3): 1601 - 1655.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
C. J. Metcalfe, K. V. Bulazel, G. C. Ferreri, E. Schroeder-Reiter, G. Wanner, W. Rens, C. Obergfell, M. D. B. Eldridge, and R. J. O'Neill
Genomic Instability Within Centromeres of Interspecific Marsupial Hybrids
Genetics, December 1, 2007; 177(4): 2507 - 2517.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Genome ResHome page
A. J. Gentles, M. J. Wakefield, O. Kohany, W. Gu, M. A. Batzer, D. D. Pollock, and J. Jurka
Evolutionary dynamics of transposable elements in the short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica
Genome Res., July 1, 2007; 17(7): 992 - 1004.
[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]

Home page
 Genome ResHome page
M. Rocchi, N. Archidiacono, and R. Stanyon
Ancestral genomes reconstruction: An integrated, multi-disciplinary approach is needed
Genome Res., December 1, 2006; 16(12): 1441 - 1444.
[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.