The localization of centromere protein A is conserved among tissues

Authors

Eleonora Cappelletti, University of Pavia
Francesca M. Piras, University of Pavia
Lorenzo Sola, University of Pavia
Marco Santagostino, University of Pavia
Jessica L. Petersen, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Rebecca R. Bellone, University of California-Davis
Carrie J. Finno, University of California-Davis
Sichong Peng, University of California-Davis
Ted S. Kalbfleisch, University of Kentucky
Ernest Bailey, University of Kentucky
Solomon G. Nergadze, University of Pavia
Elena Giulotto, University of Pavia

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

9-21-2023

Citation

COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY | (2023) 6:963 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05335-7

Comments

Open access.

Abstract

Centromeres are epigenetically specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A. Although mammalian centromeres are typically associated with satellite DNA, we previously demonstrated that the centromere of horse chromosome 11 (ECA11) is completely devoid of satellite DNA. We also showed that the localization of its CENP-A binding domain is not fixed but slides within an about 500 kb region in different individuals, giving rise to positional alleles. These epialleles are inherited as Mendelian traits but their position can move in one generation. It is still unknown whether centromere sliding occurs during meiosis or during development. Here, we first improve the sequence of the ECA11 centromeric region in the EquCab3.0 assembly. Then, to test whether centromere sliding may occur during development, we map the CENP-A binding domains of ECA11 using ChIP-seq in five tissues of different embryonic origin from the four horses of the equine FAANG (Functional Annotation of ANimal Genomes) consortium. Our results demonstrate that the centromere is localized in the same region in all tissues, suggesting that the position of the centromeric domain is maintained during development.