title: Repeat-Associated Fission Yeast-Like Regional Centromeres in the Ascomycetous Budding Yeast Candida tropicalis.
abstract: The centromere, on which kinetochore proteins assemble, ensures precise chromosome segregation. Centromeres are largely specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A (also known as Cse4 in yeasts). Structurally, centromere DNA sequences are highly diverse in nature. However, the evolutionary consequence of these structural diversities on de novo CENP-A chromatin formation remains elusive. Here, we report the identification of centromeres, as the binding sites of four evolutionarily conserved kinetochore proteins, in the human pathogenic budding yeast Candida tropicalis. Each of the seven centromeres comprises a 2 to 5 kb non-repetitive mid core flanked by 2 to 5 kb inverted repeats. The repeat-associated centromeres of C. tropicalis all share a high degree of sequence conservation with each other and are strikingly diverged from the unique and mostly non-repetitive centromeres of related Candida species--Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, and Candida lusitaniae. Using a plasmid-based assay, we further demonstrate that pericentric inverted repeats and the underlying DNA sequence provide a structural determinant in CENP-A recruitment in C. tropicalis, as opposed to epigenetically regulated CENP-A loading at centromeres in C. albicans. Thus, the centromere structure and its influence on de novo CENP-A recruitment has been significantly rewired in closely related Candida species. Strikingly, the centromere structural properties along with role of pericentric repeats in de novo CENP-A loading in C. tropicalis are more reminiscent to those of the distantly related fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Taken together, we demonstrate, for the first time, fission yeast-like repeat-associated centromeres in an ascomycetous budding yeast.
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Gautam
authors: G
authors: Chatterjee
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Sundar Ram
authors: SR
authors: Sankaranarayanan
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Krishnendu
authors: K
authors: Guin
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Yogitha
authors: Y
authors: Thattikota
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Sreedevi
authors: S
authors: Padmanabhan
authors: The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, C.I.T. Campus, Taramani, Chennai, India.
authors: Rahul
authors: R
authors: Siddharthan
authors: Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India.
authors: Kaustuv
authors: K
authors: Sanyal
mesh_terms: D001324:Autoantigens / Q000378:metabolism; D020029:Base Pairing / Q000235:genetics; D041022:Candida tropicalis / Q000235:genetics*; D002503:Centromere / Q000235:genetics*; D000076247:Centromere Protein A; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000235:genetics; D015825:Chromosomes, Fungal / Q000378:metabolism; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015321:Gene Rearrangement / Q000235:genetics; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D055029:Inverted Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics; D018386:Kinetochores / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; C000619700:CENPA protein, human; D000076247:Centromere Protein A; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; C060905:centromere protein C