Article
Cell Biology
Julio C. Flores C. Servin, Rachel R. Brown, Aaron F. Straight
Summary: Flores Servin, Brown, and Straight discovered that vertebrate CENP-A assembly is restricted to G1 phase due to the inhibitory activities of HJURP phosphorylation and M18BP1.S competitive binding to CENP-C. These inhibitory activities prevent the metaphase centromere localization of HJURP and thus hinder CENP-A assembly. Removal of these inhibitory activities allows CENP-A assembly in metaphase.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Divine Mensah Sedzro, Xiao Yuan, McKay Mullen, Umer Ejaz, Tongtong Yang, Xu Liu, Xiaoyu Song, Yun-Chi Tang, Weijun Pan, Peng Zou, Xinjiao Gao, Dongmei Wang, Zhikai Wang, Zhen Dou, Xing Liu, Xuebiao Yao
Summary: The study reveals that CENP-R collaborates with CENP-OPQU to regulate the stability of kinetochore-microtubule attachment and ensure accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis. Phosphorylation of CENP-R affects its localization to the kinetochore, possibly by disrupting its binding with CENP-U.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Michael A. Hadders, Susanne M. A. Lens
Summary: The Chromosomal Passenger Complex (CPC) is a crucial protein complex that regulates various processes during nuclear and cytoplasmic division. It is recruited to centromeres and kinetochores in early mitosis to ensure proper connection of duplicated chromosomes to microtubules. During anaphase, the CPC is relocated to the microtubule overlaps and equatorial cortex, requiring direct interactions with a kinesin-6 family member and inactivation of cyclin B-CDK1.
TRENDS IN CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Ekaterina Tarasovetc, Praveen Kumar Allu, Robert T. Wimbish, Jennifer G. DeLuca, Iain M. Cheeseman, Ben E. Black, Ekaterina L. Grishchuk
Summary: The study reveals that human mitotic cell extracts do not support de novo assembly of microtubule-binding subcomplexes at inner kinetochores, with some interactions being permissive under specific conditions. The research also uncovers the mechanisms of self-inhibition of the Ndc80 complex and microtubule binding inhibition.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gokilavani Thangavel, Paulo G. G. Hofstatter, Raphael Mercier, Andre Marques
Summary: Meiosis is a highly conserved specialized cell division in sexual life cycles of eukaryotes, forming the base of gene reshuffling, biological diversity, and evolution. Understanding the meiotic machinery across different plant lineages is crucial for understanding the lineage-specific evolution of meiosis. By using sensitive homology search approaches, we identified the core meiotic proteins in plant genomes and found that most of them are conserved across different lineages, providing insights into the conservation of meiotic pathways in the plant kingdom.
PLANT REPRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lucas Costa, Andre Marques, Christopher E. Buddenhagen, Andrea Pedrosa-Harand, Gustavo Souza
Summary: This study characterized the centromere-specific satellite DNA Tyba in a broad sampling of a plant genus. It was found that Tyba is present in the majority of examined species and exhibits high sequence conservation over a long evolutionary period. In addition, the study discovered different variants of Tyba and revealed evidence of traditional models of satellite DNA evolution. Overall, these findings suggest that Tyba may have functional roles and is evolutionarily conserved in the genome.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Murukarthick Jayakodi, Agnieszka A. Golicz, Jonathan Kreplak, Lavinia Fechete, Deepti Angra, Petr Bednar, Elesandro Bornhofen, Hailin Zhang, Raphael Boussageon, Sukhjiwan Kaur, Kwok Cheung, Jana Cizkova, Heidrun Gundlach, Asis Hallab, Baptiste Imbert, Gabriel Keeble-Gagnere, Andrea Koblizkova, Lucie Kobrlova, Petra Krejci, Troels W. Mouritzen, Pavel Neumann, Marcin Nadzieja, Linda Kaergaard Nielsen, Petr Novak, Jihad Orabi, Sudharsan Padmarasu, Tom Robertson-Shersby-Harvie, Laura Avila Robledillo, Andrea Schiemann, Jaakko Tanskanen, Petri Toronen, Ahmed O. Warsame, Alexander H. J. Wittenberg, Axel Himmelbach, Gregoire Aubert, Pierre-Emmanuel Courty, Jaroslav Dolezel, Liisa U. Holm, Luc L. Janss, Hamid Khazaei, Jiri Macas, Martin Mascher, Petr Smykal, Rod J. Snowdon, Nils Stein, Frederick L. Stoddard, Jens Stougaard, Nadim Tayeh, Ana M. Torres, Bjorn Usadel, Ingo Schubert, Donal Martin O'Sullivan, Alan H. Schulman, Stig Uggerhoj Andersen
Summary: Increasing the proportion of locally produced plant protein in diets could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity. However, plant protein production is hindered by the lack of a cool-season legume equivalent to soybean. This study presents a high-quality genome assembly of faba bean and demonstrates its potential for sustainable protein production.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pavel Neumann, Ludmila Oliveira, Tae-Soo Jang, Petr Novak, Andrea Koblizkova, Veit Schubert, Andreas Houben, Jiri Macas
Summary: The transition from monocentric to holocentric organization in Cuscuta was associated with loss or truncation of kinetochore-related genes, disruption of centromeric localization of kinetochore proteins, and degeneration of the spindle assembly checkpoint. This indicates that holocentric Cuscuta species lack a standard kinetochore and do not employ the SAC to control microtubule attachment to chromosomes.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yi-Tzu Kuo, Amanda Souza Camara, Veit Schubert, Pavel Neumann, Jiri Macas, Michael Melzer, Jianyong Chen, Jorg Fuchs, Simone Abel, Evelyn Klocke, Bruno Huettel, Axel Himmelbach, Dmitri Demidov, Frank Dunemann, Martin Mascher, Takayoshi Ishii, Andre Marques, Andreas Houben
Summary: This study reveals the holocentric characteristics of the lilioid plant Chionographis japonica, showing that its centromeres consist of evenly spaced units and differ from other known holocentric species. The study also finds that C. japonica forms clustered centromeres similar to monocentric species, but the large-scale chromatin arrangement is different. The formation of holocentromeres from interphase centromere clusters was simulated using polymer simulations.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anne Edwards, Isaac Njaci, Abhimanyu Sarkar, Zhouqian Jiang, Gemy George Kaithakottil, Christopher Moore, Jitender Cheema, Clare E. M. Stevenson, Martin Rejzek, Petr Novak, Marielle Vigouroux, Martin Vickers, Roland H. M. Wouters, Pirita Paajanen, Burkhard Steuernagel, Jonathan D. Moore, Janet Higgins, David Swarbreck, Stefan Martens, Colin Y. Kim, Jing-Ke Weng, Sagadevan Mundree, Benjamin Kilian, Shiv Kumar, Matt Loose, Levi Yant, Jiri Macas, Trevor L. Wang, Cathie Martin, Peter M. F. Emmrich
Summary: Grass pea is a protein-rich crop cultivated in several countries as an insurance crop for food security in a changing climate. However, its cultivation has been limited due to a lack of genetic resources and its association with a disease called neurolathyrism. In this study, researchers have sequenced the genome of grass pea and identified the biosynthetic pathway for the neurotoxin beta-L-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (beta-L-ODAP), which causes the disease. This finding provides valuable insights for developing varieties with reduced toxin production.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marcial Escudero, Andre Marques, Kay Lucek, Andrew L. L. Hipp
Summary: Holocentric organisms have kinetochore activity distributed along almost the whole length of the chromosome, which may account for the extraordinary rates of chromosome evolution that many holocentric lineages exhibit. In this study, the genomes of Carex species and a distantly related Cyperaceae species were compared to characterize conserved and rearranged genome regions. The results showed longer genome synteny blocks and non-random association between repetitive DNA and holocentromeres and rearranged regions of the genome. These findings suggest that conserved genomic hotspots related to repetitive DNA shape the evolution of recombination, gene order, and crossability in sedges.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rahman Ebrahimzadegan, Jorg Fuchs, Jianyong Chen, Veit Schubert, Armin Meister, Andreas Houben, Ghader Mirzaghaderi
Summary: The behavior of B chromosomes in Festuca pratensis was studied during meiotic and mitotic stages. The B chromosome exhibited Mendelian segregation behavior during meiosis, but non-Mendelian segregation behavior during the first pollen mitosis, resulting in a drive phenomenon. At least 82% of the B chromosomes showed drive during the first pollen mitosis.
CHROMOSOME RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Holger Puchta, Andreas Houben
Summary: Spontaneous chromosomal rearrangements (CRs) play a vital role in speciation, genome evolution and crop domestication. Chromosome engineering, through methods such as chromosomal translocations, inversion reversions, and construction of minichromosomes, has the potential to modify genetic linkage groups, change the number of chromosomes, and establish genetic isolation, thus aiding breeding and plant biotechnology.