Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin

Repeated DNA in heterochromatin presents enormous difficulties for whole-genome sequencing; hence, sequence organization in a significant portion of the genomes of multicellular organisms is relatively unknown. Two sequenced BACs now allow us to compare telomeric retrotransposon arrays from Drosophi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: DeBaryshe, P. G., Pardue, Mary-Lou
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Genetics Society of America 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76257
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4448-0785
_version_ 1811072945610555392
author DeBaryshe, P. G.
Pardue, Mary-Lou
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
DeBaryshe, P. G.
Pardue, Mary-Lou
author_sort DeBaryshe, P. G.
collection MIT
description Repeated DNA in heterochromatin presents enormous difficulties for whole-genome sequencing; hence, sequence organization in a significant portion of the genomes of multicellular organisms is relatively unknown. Two sequenced BACs now allow us to compare telomeric retrotransposon arrays from Drosophila melanogaster telomeres with an array of telomeric retrotransposons that transposed into the centromeric region of the Y chromosome >13 MYA, providing a unique opportunity to compare the structural evolution of this retrotransposon in two contexts. We find that these retrotransposon arrays, both heterochromatic, are maintained quite differently, resulting in sequence organizations that apparently reflect different roles in the two chromosomal environments. The telomere array has grown only by transposition of new elements to the chromosome end; the centromeric array instead has grown by repeated amplifications of segments of the original telomere array. Many elements in the telomere have been variably 5′-truncated apparently by gradual erosion and irregular deletions of the chromosome end; however, a significant fraction (4 and possibly 5 or 6 of 15 elements examined) remain complete and capable of further retrotransposition. In contrast, each element in the centromere region has lost ≥40% of its sequence by internal, rather than terminal, deletions, and no element retains a significant part of the original coding region. Thus the centromeric array has been restructured to resemble the highly repetitive satellite sequences typical of centromeres in multicellular organisms, whereas, over a similar or longer time period, the telomere array has maintained its ability to provide retrotransposons competent to extend telomere ends.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T09:23:32Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/76257
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language en_US
last_indexed 2024-09-23T09:23:32Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Genetics Society of America
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/762572022-09-30T14:19:41Z Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin DeBaryshe, P. G. Pardue, Mary-Lou Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Pardue, Mary-Lou Pardue, Mary-Lou DeBaryshe, P. G. Repeated DNA in heterochromatin presents enormous difficulties for whole-genome sequencing; hence, sequence organization in a significant portion of the genomes of multicellular organisms is relatively unknown. Two sequenced BACs now allow us to compare telomeric retrotransposon arrays from Drosophila melanogaster telomeres with an array of telomeric retrotransposons that transposed into the centromeric region of the Y chromosome >13 MYA, providing a unique opportunity to compare the structural evolution of this retrotransposon in two contexts. We find that these retrotransposon arrays, both heterochromatic, are maintained quite differently, resulting in sequence organizations that apparently reflect different roles in the two chromosomal environments. The telomere array has grown only by transposition of new elements to the chromosome end; the centromeric array instead has grown by repeated amplifications of segments of the original telomere array. Many elements in the telomere have been variably 5′-truncated apparently by gradual erosion and irregular deletions of the chromosome end; however, a significant fraction (4 and possibly 5 or 6 of 15 elements examined) remain complete and capable of further retrotransposition. In contrast, each element in the centromere region has lost ≥40% of its sequence by internal, rather than terminal, deletions, and no element retains a significant part of the original coding region. Thus the centromeric array has been restructured to resemble the highly repetitive satellite sequences typical of centromeres in multicellular organisms, whereas, over a similar or longer time period, the telomere array has maintained its ability to provide retrotransposons competent to extend telomere ends. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant GM50315) 2013-01-11T18:56:26Z 2013-01-11T18:56:26Z 2010-11 2010-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0016-6731 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76257 DeBaryshe, P. G., and M.-L. Pardue. “Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin.” Genetics 187.1 (2010): 51–60. Web. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4448-0785 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1534/genetics.110.122994 Genetics Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf Genetics Society of America Pardue via Courtney Crummett
spellingShingle DeBaryshe, P. G.
Pardue, Mary-Lou
Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title_full Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title_fullStr Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title_full_unstemmed Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title_short Differential Maintenance of DNA Sequences in Telomeric and Centromeric Heterochromatin
title_sort differential maintenance of dna sequences in telomeric and centromeric heterochromatin
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76257
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4448-0785
work_keys_str_mv AT debaryshepg differentialmaintenanceofdnasequencesintelomericandcentromericheterochromatin
AT parduemarylou differentialmaintenanceofdnasequencesintelomericandcentromericheterochromatin