New insights into centromere organization and evolution from the white-cheeked gibbon and marmoset.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary history of alpha-satellite DNA, the major component of primate centromeres, is hardly defined because of the difficulty in its sequence assembly and its rapid evolution when compared with most genomic sequences. By using several approaches, we have cloned, sequenced, and characterized alpha-satellite sequences from two species representing critical nodes in the primate phylogeny: the white-cheeked gibbon, a lesser ape, and marmoset, a New World monkey. Sequence analyses demonstrate that white-cheeked gibbon and marmoset alpha-satellite sequences are formed by units of approximately 171 and approximately 342 bp, respectively, and they both lack the high-order structure found in humans and great apes. Fluorescent in situ hybridization characterization shows a broad dispersal

SUBMITTER: Cellamare A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2734153 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature