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Letter

Nature Cell Biology 7, 1248–1255 (1 December 2005) | doi:10.1038/ncb1331

Differential role of CENP-A in the segregation of holocentric C. elegans chromosomes during meiosis and mitosis

Joost Monen , Paul S. Maddox , Francie Hyndman , Karen Oegema & Arshad Desai

Two distinct chromosome architectures are prevalent among eukaryotes: monocentric, in which localized centromeres restrict kinetochore assembly to a single chromosomal site, and holocentric, in which diffuse kinetochores form along the entire chromosome length. During mitosis, both chromosome types use specialized chromatin, containing the histone H3 variant CENP-A, to direct kinetochore assembly.