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The Centromere Paradox: Stable Inheritance with Rapidly Evolving DNA
Steven Henikoff,*Kami Ahmad,Harmit
S. Malik
Every eukaryotic chromosome has a centromere, the locus
responsible for poleward movement at mitosis and meiosis. Althoughconventional loci are specified by their DNA sequences, currentevidence favors a chromatin-based inheritance mechanism for
centromeres.The chromosome segregation machinery is highly conserved
acrossall eukaryotes, but the DNA and protein components specific tocentromeric chromatin are evolving rapidly. Incompatibilitiesbetween
rapidly evolving centromeric components may be responsiblefor both the
organization of centromeric regions and the reproductiveisolation of
emerging species.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Laboratories, Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle,
WA 98109, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
steveh{at}fhcrc.org
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
LETTERS
Pavel M. Borodin;, Steven Henikoff, Kami Ahmad, and Harmit S. Malik (21 December 2001) Science294 (5551), 2478.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.294.5551.2478] |Full Text »
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