title: Dynamic chromatin changes associated with de novo centromere formation in maize euchromatin.
abstract: The inheritance and function of centromeres are not strictly dependent on any specific DNA sequence, but involve an epigenetic component in most species. CENH3, a centromere histone H3 variant, is one of the best-described epigenetic factors in centromere identity, but the chromatin features required during centromere formation have not yet been revealed. We previously identified two de novo centromeres on Zea mays (maize) minichromosomes derived from euchromatic sites with high-density gene distributions but low-density transposon distributions. The distribution of gene location and gene expression in these sites indicates that transcriptionally active regions can initiate de novo centromere formation, and CENH3 seeding shows a preference for gene-free regions or regions with no gene expression. The locations of the expressed genes detected were at relatively hypomethylated loci, and the altered gene expression resulted from de novo centromere formation, but not from the additional copy of the minichromosome. The initial overall DNA methylation level of the two de novo regions was at a low level, but increased substantially to that of native centromeres after centromere formation. These results illustrate the dynamic chromatin changes during euchromatin-originated de novo centromere formation, which provides insight into the mechanism of de novo centromere formation and regulation of subsequent consequences.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Handong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yalin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhenling
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Chinese Agriculture University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Hongyao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Chinese Agriculture University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Shaojun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211-7400, USA.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.|State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Junling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiu-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Chinese Agriculture University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211-7400, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Birchler
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Fangpu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D022041:Euchromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D022041:Euchromatin; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: DNA methylation; centromeric chromatin; de novo centromere; maize