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Chromosome biology

Small RNAs find the centre

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 10, pages 738–739 (2009)Cite this article

The structure of chromatin close to centromeres is thought to influence the formation of kinetochores — protein structures that are essential for chromosome segregation. Most eukaryotes have a single centromere per chromosome, and pericentromeric repetitive sequences help to define their chromatin structure. Nematodes are unusual: their chromosomes are 'holocentric' — that is, they have centromeres and kinetochores along their length. So how are holocentric centromeres defined?

Previous studies have shown that in Caenorhabditis elegans, depletion of two RNAi pathway proteins — the Argonaute protein CSR-1 or the Dicer-related helicase DRH-3 — caused chromosome segregation defects. Claycomb and colleagues found that loss of two other RNAi factors, the RNA-dependent polymerase EGO-1 or the Tudor domain-containing protein EKL-1, had similar effects. They found that depletion of any of these four factors caused dramatic disorganization in the chromosomal localization of proteins that are vital for chromosome segregation, including condensin, cohesin, the centromeric histone variant HCP-3 and kinetochore factors.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Claycomb, J. M. et al. The Argonaute CSR-1 and its 22G-RNA cofactors are required for holocentric chromosome segregation. Cell 139, 123–134 (2009)

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  2. Gu, W. et al. Distinct Argonaute-mediated 22G-RNA pathways direct genome surveillance in the C. elegans germline. Mol. Cell 2 Oct 2009 (doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.09.020)

  3. van Wolfswinkel, J. C. et al. CDE-1 affects chromosome segregation through uridylation of CSR-1-bound siRNAs. Cell 139, 135–148 (2009)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Ghildiyal, M. & Zamore, P. D. Small silencing RNAs: an expanding universe. Nature Rev. Genet. 10, 94–108 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hutvagner, G. & Simard, M. J. Argonaute proteins: key players in RNA silencing. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 9, 22–32 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Editor, Nature Reviews Genetics,

    Mary Muers

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  1. Mary Muers
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Muers, M. Small RNAs find the centre. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10, 738–739 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2791

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