Formation of functional CENP-B boxes at diverse locations in repeat units of centromeric DNA in New World monkeys.
Centromere protein B, which is involved in centromere formation, binds to centromeric repetitive DNA by recognizing a nucleotide motif called the CENP-B box. Humans have large numbers of CENP-B boxes in the centromeric repetitive DNA of their autosomes and X chromosome. The current understanding is that these CENP-B boxes are located at identical positions in the repeat units of centromeric DNA. Great apes also have CENP-B boxes in locations that are identical to humans. The purpose of the present study was to examine the location of CENP-B box in New World monkeys. We recently identified CENP-B box in one species of New World monkeys (marmosets). In this study, we found functional CENP-B boxes in CENP-A-assembled repeat units of centromeric DNA in 2 additional New World monkeys (squirrel monkeys and tamarins) by immunostaining and ChIP-qPCR analyses. The locations of the 3 CENP-B boxes in the repeat units differed from one another. The repeat unit size of centromeric DNA of New World monkeys (340-350 bp) is approximately twice that of humans and great apes (171 bp). This might be, associated with higher-order repeat structures of centromeric DNA, a factor for the observed variation in the CENP-B box location in New World monkeys.
Department of Frontier Research, Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Kisarazu 292-0818, Japan.
Kazuto
K
Kugou
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan.
Hirohisa
H
Hirai
Department of Frontier Research, Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Kisarazu 292-0818, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Masumoto
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan.
Akihiko
A
Koga
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002503:Centromere / Q000235:genetics*; D051936:Centromere Protein B / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D056426:Genetic Loci; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010802:Phylogeny; D051078:Platyrrhini / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D051936:Centromere Protein B; D004276:DNA, Satellite