Differential regulation of strand-specific transcripts from Arabidopsis centromeric satellite repeats.

ABSTRACT: Centromeres interact with the spindle apparatus to enable chromosome disjunction and typically contain thousands of tandemly arranged satellite repeats interspersed with retrotransposons. While their role has been obscure, centromeric repeats are epigenetically modified and centromere specification has a strong epigenetic component. In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, long heterochromatic repeats are transcribed and contribute to centromere function via RNA interference (RNAi). In the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana, as in mammalian cells, centromeric satellite repeats are short (180 base pairs), are found in thousands of tandem copies, and are methylated. We have found transcripts from both strands of canonical, bulk Arabidopsis repeats. At least one subfamily of 180-base pair repea

SUBMITTER: May BP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1317654 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature