Molecular and Functional Dissection of the Maize B Chromosome Centromere

The centromere of the maize (Zea mays) B chromosome contains several megabases of a B-specific repeat (ZmBs), a 156-bp satellite repeat (CentC), and centromere-specific retrotransposons (CRM elements). Here, we demonstrate that only a small fraction of the ZmBs repeats interacts with CENH3, the hist...

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Published inThe Plant cell Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 1412 - 1423
Main Authors Jin, Weiwei, Lamb, Jonathan C, Vega, Juan M, Dawe, R. Kelly, Birchler, James A, Jiang, Jiming
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Society of Plant Biologists 01.05.2005
Subjects
B chromosomes
binding sites
Centromere - genetics
Centromere - ultrastructure
Centromeres
Chromatin
Chromosome Mapping
Chromosomes
Chromosomes - genetics
Chromosomes - ultrastructure
Corn
DNA
Fluorescence in situ hybridization
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics
histones
Histones - genetics
Histones - metabolism
Human genetics
Microsatellite Repeats - genetics
Mitosis - genetics
Pachytene stage
Plant cells
Protein Structure, Tertiary - genetics
repetitive sequences
retrotransposons
Rice
Zea mays
Zea mays - genetics
Zea mays - metabolism
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Summary:The centromere of the maize (Zea mays) B chromosome contains several megabases of a B-specific repeat (ZmBs), a 156-bp satellite repeat (CentC), and centromere-specific retrotransposons (CRM elements). Here, we demonstrate that only a small fraction of the ZmBs repeats interacts with CENH3, the histone H3 variant specific to centromeres. CentC, which marks the CENH3-associated chromatin in maize A centromeres, is restricted to an [approximately]700-kb domain within the larger context of the ZmBs repeats. The breakpoints of five B centromere misdivision derivatives are mapped within this domain. In addition, the fraction of this domain remaining after misdivision correlates well with the quantity of CENH3 on the centromere. Thus, the functional boundaries of the B centromere are mapped to a relatively small CentC- and CRM-rich region that is embedded within multimegabase arrays of the ZmBs repeat. Our results demonstrate that the amount of CENH3 at the B centromere can be varied, but with decreasing amounts, the function of the centromere becomes impaired.
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Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.104.030643.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail birchlerj@missouri.edu or jjiang1@wisc.edu; fax 573-882-0123 or 608-262-4743.
The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantcell.org) is: James A. Birchler (birchlerj@missouri.edu).
ISSN:1040-4651
1532-298X
DOI:10.1105/tpc.104.030643