Eleonora Cappelletti, Francesca M Piras, Marialaura Biundo, Rebecca R Bellone, Carrie J Finno, Ted S Kalbfleisch, Jessica L Petersen, Solomon G Nergadze, Elena Giulotto
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In this review, after a brief description of the rapid evolution of equids, we outline one of our most relevant initial discoveries: the position of CENP-A binding domains is variable among individuals giving rise to epialleles which are inherited as Mendelian traits. This positional variability was recently confirmed in human centromeres whose repetitive DNA organization could be analyzed thanks to telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assemblies. Another unexpected observation was that, in equids, CENP-B does not bind the centromeric core and is uncoupled from CENP-A and CENP-C. CENP-B is absent from the majority of chromosomes while the CENP-B binding DNA sequence (CENP-B box) is comprised within a satellite that is localized at pericentromeric or terminal positions. Finally, comparative molecular and cytogenetic analyses of satellite-free centromeres revealed that the birth of neocentromeres during the evolution of this genus occurred through two alternative mechanisms: centromere repositioning and Robertsonian fusion. These events played a key role in karyotype reshuffling and speciation. Investigating centromere organization in equids provided new insights into the complexity of centromere organization across the vast biodiversity of the mammalian world, where the majority of species remain understudied.</p>","PeriodicalId":50698,"journal":{"name":"Chromosome Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12208984/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"CENP-A and centromere evolution in equids.\",\"authors\":\"Eleonora Cappelletti, Francesca M Piras, Marialaura Biundo, Rebecca R Bellone, Carrie J Finno, Ted S Kalbfleisch, Jessica L Petersen, Solomon G Nergadze, Elena Giulotto\",\"doi\":\"10.1007/s10577-025-09773-3\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>While the centromeric function is conserved and epigenetically specified by CENP-A, centromeric DNA, typically composed of satellite repeats, is highly divergent and rapidly evolving. In the species of the genus Equus (horses, asses and zebras), also known as equids, the numerous centromeres devoid of satellite repeats enabled us to carry out molecular analysis of centromeric chromatin establishing a unique model system for mammalian centromere biology. In this review, after a brief description of the rapid evolution of equids, we outline one of our most relevant initial discoveries: the position of CENP-A binding domains is variable among individuals giving rise to epialleles which are inherited as Mendelian traits. This positional variability was recently confirmed in human centromeres whose repetitive DNA organization could be analyzed thanks to telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assemblies. Another unexpected observation was that, in equids, CENP-B does not bind the centromeric core and is uncoupled from CENP-A and CENP-C. CENP-B is absent from the majority of chromosomes while the CENP-B binding DNA sequence (CENP-B box) is comprised within a satellite that is localized at pericentromeric or terminal positions. Finally, comparative molecular and cytogenetic analyses of satellite-free centromeres revealed that the birth of neocentromeres during the evolution of this genus occurred through two alternative mechanisms: centromere repositioning and Robertsonian fusion. These events played a key role in karyotype reshuffling and speciation. Investigating centromere organization in equids provided new insights into the complexity of centromere organization across the vast biodiversity of the mammalian world, where the majority of species remain understudied.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":50698,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Chromosome Research\",\"volume\":\"33 1\",\"pages\":\"13\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.4000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-30\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12208984/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Chromosome Research\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"99\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-025-09773-3\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"生物学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chromosome Research","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-025-09773-3","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
While the centromeric function is conserved and epigenetically specified by CENP-A, centromeric DNA, typically composed of satellite repeats, is highly divergent and rapidly evolving. In the species of the genus Equus (horses, asses and zebras), also known as equids, the numerous centromeres devoid of satellite repeats enabled us to carry out molecular analysis of centromeric chromatin establishing a unique model system for mammalian centromere biology. In this review, after a brief description of the rapid evolution of equids, we outline one of our most relevant initial discoveries: the position of CENP-A binding domains is variable among individuals giving rise to epialleles which are inherited as Mendelian traits. This positional variability was recently confirmed in human centromeres whose repetitive DNA organization could be analyzed thanks to telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assemblies. Another unexpected observation was that, in equids, CENP-B does not bind the centromeric core and is uncoupled from CENP-A and CENP-C. CENP-B is absent from the majority of chromosomes while the CENP-B binding DNA sequence (CENP-B box) is comprised within a satellite that is localized at pericentromeric or terminal positions. Finally, comparative molecular and cytogenetic analyses of satellite-free centromeres revealed that the birth of neocentromeres during the evolution of this genus occurred through two alternative mechanisms: centromere repositioning and Robertsonian fusion. These events played a key role in karyotype reshuffling and speciation. Investigating centromere organization in equids provided new insights into the complexity of centromere organization across the vast biodiversity of the mammalian world, where the majority of species remain understudied.
期刊介绍:
Chromosome Research publishes manuscripts from work based on all organisms and encourages submissions in the following areas including, but not limited, to:
· Chromosomes and their linkage to diseases;
· Chromosome organization within the nucleus;
· Chromatin biology (transcription, non-coding RNA, etc);
· Chromosome structure, function and mechanics;
· Chromosome and DNA repair;
· Epigenetic chromosomal functions (centromeres, telomeres, replication, imprinting,
dosage compensation, sex determination, chromosome remodeling);
· Architectural/epigenomic organization of the genome;
· Functional annotation of the genome;
· Functional and comparative genomics in plants and animals;
· Karyology studies that help resolve difficult taxonomic problems or that provide
clues to fundamental mechanisms of genome and karyotype evolution in plants and animals;
· Mitosis and Meiosis;
· Cancer cytogenomics.