title: Evolutionary Turnover of Kinetochore Proteins: A Ship of Theseus?
abstract: The kinetochore is a multiprotein complex that mediates the attachment of a eukaryotic chromosome to the mitotic spindle. The protein composition of kinetochores is similar across species as divergent as yeast and human. However, recent findings have revealed an unexpected degree of compositional diversity in kinetochores. For example, kinetochore proteins that are essential in some species have been lost in others, whereas new kinetochore proteins have emerged in other lineages. Even in lineages with similar kinetochore composition, individual kinetochore proteins have functionally diverged to acquire either essential or redundant roles. Thus, despite functional conservation, the repertoire of kinetochore proteins has undergone recurrent evolutionary turnover.
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Current address: Chromatin Dynamics Unit, UMR2664, Institut Curie, Paris, France. Electronic address: ines.drinnenberg@curie.fr.
authors.forename: Ines A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Drinnenberg
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henikoff
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. Electronic address: hsmalik@fhcrc.org.
authors.forename: Harmit S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Malik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D018386:Kinetochores / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
keywords: CENP-B; CENP-T; CenH3; evolutionary dynamics; functional conservation; kinetochore