Centromeres: Proteins, protein complexes, and repeated domains at centromeres of simple eukaryotes

Current Opinion in Genetics and Development

Volumn 8, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 212-218

  Clarke, Louise ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DNA BINDING PROTEIN;

ARTICLE; CENTROMERE; CHROMATIN STRUCTURE; DNA SEQUENCE; DROSOPHILA; EUKARYOTE; FUNGUS; HUMAN; NONHUMAN; NUCLEOTIDE REPEAT; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PROTEIN PROTEIN INTERACTION;

EID: 0032054999     PISSN: 0959437X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0959-437X(98)80143-3     Document Type: Article

References (48)

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17. Kitada K, Yamaguchi E, Hamada K, Arisawa M. Structural analysis of a Candida glabrata centromere and its functional homology to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae centromere. of special interest Curr Genet. 31:1997;122-127 The C. glabrata centromere is localized to a DNA fragment of only 153 bp. Mutational analyses confirm that the CDE III element - which is structurally similar to CDE III in S. cerevisiae - is critical for centromere function. The C. glabrata centromere does not function in the heterologous yeast despite similarities in centromere structure but chimeric centromeres do have partial function.
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19. Vernis L, Abbas A, Chasles M, Gaillardin CM, Brun C, Huberman JA, Fournier P. An origin of replication and a centromere are both needed to establish a replicative plasmid in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. of special interest Mol Cell Biol. 17:1997;1995-2004 Y. lipolytica is an industrial yeast very distantly related to S. cerevisiae and S. pombe. All three Y. lipolytica ARS elements identified to date require the presence of a CEN sequence in close proximity to confer autonomous replication to a circular plasmid. This observation may provide an explanation for why extrachromosomal replication of plasmids has not been observed with other fungal species, some of which have very large centromeric regions.
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22. Marschall LG, Clarke L. A novel cis-acting centromeric DNA element affects S. pombe centromeric chromatin structure at a distance. J Cell Biol. 128:1995;445-454.
23. Ngan VK, Clarke L. The centromere enhancer mediates centromere activation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. of outstanding interest Mol Cell Bicl. 17:1997;3305-3314 Two important points regarding centromere function in S. pombe emerge from this work. The first is that the centromere enhancer region of the K type repeat is not absolutely essential for centromere function but is needed for immediate centromere activation when the centromeric central core is introduced via transformation on a minichromosome into an S. pombe host. This immediate activation is probably a consequence of the centromeric DNA assuming the proper chromatin conformation for kinetochore formation. The second point is that two entirely different DNA sequences derived from two native centromeres can display centromere function in S. pombe. Thus, there is no 'magic' sequence required for a functional S. pombe centromere.
24. Steiner NC, Clarke L. A novel epigenetic effect can alter centromere function in fission yeast. Cell. 79:1994;865-874.
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28. Halverson D, Baum M, Stryker J, Carbon J, Clarke L. A centromere DNA-binding protein from fission yeast affects chromosome segregation and has homology to human CENP-B. of outstanding interest J Cell Biol. 136:1997;487-500 Biochemical and genetic strategies have been employed to identify and characterize S. pombe Abp1p/Cbp1p, a protein that binds in vitro to several sites within central core and K-type repeat DNA and that, when overexpressed in vivo, causes chromosome missegregation. Abp1p/Cbp1p is related to human CENP-B, linking the S. pombe centromere model directly to the human centromere. abp1 is not an essential gene but strains carrying a null mutation display mitotic chromosome instability and a profound meiotic defect.
29. Murakami Y, Huberman JA, Hurwitz J. Identification, purification, and molecular cloning of autonomously replicating sequence-binding protein 1 from fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. of outstanding interest. of special interest Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 93:1996;502-507 The initial purification of S. pombe Abp1p/Cbp1p was accomplished with affinity chromatography over a DNA column composed of tandem repeats of an AT-rich sequence derived from an S. pombe ars element. Because Abp1p/Cbp1p binds to sites within centromeric DNA (see [28]) and within ars DNA in vitro, roles of this CENP-B-like protein at both centromeric and origin locations in vivo are suggested.
30. Earnshaw EC, Rothfield N. Identification of a family of human centromere proteins using autoimmune sera from patients with scleroderma. Chromosoma. 91:1985;313-321.
31. Clarke L, Baum M, Marschall LG, Ngan VK, Steiner NC. Structure and function of Schizosaccharomyces pombe centromeres. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 58:1993;687-695.
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33. Lee J-K, Huberman JA, Hurwitz J. Purification and characterization of a CENP-B homologue protein that binds to the centromeric K-type repeat DNA of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. of outstanding interest Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 94:1997;8427-8432 Another CENP-B-like protein, Cbhp, has been identified in S. pombe via the same methodology described in [29]. This essential protein binds in vitro specifically to a small region within the centromeric K repeat, again suggesting a role in centromere function for the S. pombe proteins related to mammalian CENP-B.
34. Ekwall K, Javerzat J-P, Lorentz A, Schmidt H, Cranston G, Allshire R. The chromodomain protein Swi6: a key component at fission yeast centromeres. Science. 69:1995;1429-1431.
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38. 1/S leads to unequal sister chromatid segregation in the following mitosis. Evidence is provided for a role of Mis6p in establishment of biorientation of sister centromeres in metaphase. Mis6p has some homology to the product of human and rat leucine-rich primary response gene 1 (LRPR1), encoding a protein of unknown function regulated by follicle-stimulating hormone.
39. Sun X, Wahlstrom J, Karpen G. Molecular structure of a functional Drosophila centromere. of outstanding interest Cell. 91:1997;1007-1019 A detailed analysis of centromeric DNA carried on the Drosophila minichromosome Dp1187 reveals that most of the region is composed of simple satellite sequences interspersed with single copies of six types of transposable elements. Neither the satellite sequences nor the transposable elements are localized specifically to the centromere, and it appears that these elements are not present at all Drosophila centromeres. Thus, analogous to the S. pombe system, there is no single specific DNA sequence required for centromere function in Drosophila.
40. Cook KR, Murphy TD, Nguyen TC, Karpen GH. Identification of Trans-acting genes necessary for centromere function in Drosophila melanogaster. of outstanding interest Genetics. 145:1997;737-747 A genetic system based on the Drosophila Dp1187 minichromosome is used to show that mutations in genes that affect chromosome transmission (ncd, klp3A) also affect minichromosome derivatives with partially defective centromeres. Increased dosage of the nod kinesin-like protein gene also affects minichromosome inheritance. Thus, dominant genetic interactions between mutationally altered alleles and centromere-compromised minichromosomes might be used to target other genes important in centromere function in Drosophila.
41. Williams BS, Gatti M, Goldberg M. Bipolar spindle attachments affect redistributions of ZW10, a Drosophila centromere/kinetochore component required for accurate chromosome segregation. J Cell Biol. 134:1996;1127-1140.
42. Starr DA, Williams BC, Li Z, Etemad-Moghadam B, Dawe RK, Goldberg ML. Conservation of the centromere/kinetochore protein ZW10. of special interest J Cell Biol. 138:1997;1289-1301 The product of the essential Drosophila ZW10 gene probably acts at anaphase as part of a kinetochore-associated tension-sensing checkpoint. DmZW10 is localized to the centromere/kinetochore at prometaphase, to microtubules at metaphase, and again to the kinetochore/centromere at anaphase. This study shows that DmZW10-related proteins are present in a variety of species from plants to humans and play roles in chromosomes segregation in humans and C. elegans.
43. Williams BC, Murphy T, Goldberg ML, Karpen G. Neocentromere activity of structurally acentric minichromosomes. of special interest Nat Genet. 18:1998;30-37 Stable acentric derivatives of the Drosophila minichromosome Dp1187 bind the centromere protein ZW10 and associate with spindle poles at anaphase. Evidence strongly suggests that non-centromeric sequences on the acentric derivatives have acquired partial centromere function, perhaps mediated by their previous location near a functional centromere.
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45. Bousbaa H, Correia L, Gorbsky GJ, Sunkel CE. Mitotic phosphoepitopes are expressed in Kc cells, neuroblasts and isolated chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. of special interest J Cell Sci. 110:1997;1979-1988 The 3F3/2 kinetochore phosphoepitopes - thought to be involved in the spindle assembly and tension-sensing checkpoint that monitors bipolar chromosome attachment in mammalian cells and grasshopper spermatocytes - are also present in Drosophila. The phosphoepitopes are localized at centromeres from prophase to the metaphase/anaphase transition and at centrosomes from prophase to late telophase, a cell cycle pattern similar to that described for the other systems.
46. Torok T, Harvie PD, Buratovich M, Bryant PJ. The product of proliferation disrupter is concentrated at centromeres and required for mitotic chromosome condensation and cell proliferation. of special interest Genes Dev. 11:1997;213-225 The product of the Drosophila proliferation disrupter (prod) gene is localized at Chromosome 2 and 3 centromeres and a number of euchromatic sites. Cells with homozygous null prod mutations have undercondensed chromosomes and fail to undergo metaphase/anaphase transition. It is postulated that improper centromere chromatin organization interferes with kinetochore assembly and function in the mutants.
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48. Straight AF, Marshall WF, Sedat JW, Murray AW. Mitosis in living budding yeast: anaphase A but no metaphase plate. of special interest Nature. 77:1997;574-578 A fusion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) to Lac repressor, targeted to multiple Lac operator sequences integrated into the chromosome, and a GFP fusion to alpha tubulin have enabled the visualization in living yeast cells of chromosome and spindle dynamics. This powerful technology - applied to a system where chromosomes are not visible by conventional microscopy - has so far shown that whereas S. cerevisiae chromosomes do not align at a metaphase plate, they do exhibit anaphase A movement. Often anaphase is initiated when the centromeres are closer to one spindle pole than the other, and centromeres separate before telomeres. The ability to visualize these events in living yeast cells, combined with the sophisticated genetics available with this system, should greatly facilitate the study of chromosome movement in eukaryotes.