Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 2001 Sep;159(1):291–302. doi: 10.1093/genetics/159.1.291

Characterization of a maize chromosome 4 centromeric sequence: evidence for an evolutionary relationship with the B chromosome centromere.

B T Page 1, M K Wanous 1, J A Birchler 1
PMCID: PMC1461786  PMID: 11560905

Abstract

Previous work has identified sequences specific to the B chromosome that are a major component of the B centromere. To address the issue of the origin of the B and the evolution of centromere-localized sequences, DNA prepared from plants without B chromosomes was probed to seek evidence for related sequences. Clones were isolated from maize line B73 without B chromosomes by screening DNA at reduced stringency with a B centromeric probe. These clones were localized to maize centromere 4 using fluorescence in situ hybridization. They showed homology to a maize centromere-mapped sequence, to maize B chromosome centromere sequences, and to a portion of the unit repeat of knobs, which act as neocentromeres in maize. A representative copy was used to screen a BAC library to obtain these sequences in a larger context. Each of the six positive BACs obtained was analyzed to determine the nature of centromere 4-specific sequences present. Fifteen subclones of one BAC were sequenced and the organization of this chromosome 4-specific repeat was examined.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (463.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ananiev E. V., Phillips R. L., Rines H. W. Chromosome-specific molecular organization of maize (Zea mays L.) centromeric regions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Oct 27;95(22):13073–13078. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.22.13073. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aragón-Alcaide L., Miller T., Schwarzacher T., Reader S., Moore G. A cereal centromeric sequence. Chromosoma. 1996 Dec;105(5):261–268. doi: 10.1007/BF02524643. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Buckler E. S., 4th, Phelps-Durr T. L., Buckler C. S., Dawe R. K., Doebley J. F., Holtsford T. P. Meiotic drive of chromosomal knobs reshaped the maize genome. Genetics. 1999 Sep;153(1):415–426. doi: 10.1093/genetics/153.1.415. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burr B., Burr F. A., Matz E. C., Romero-Severson J. Pinning down loose ends: mapping telomeres and factors affecting their length. Plant Cell. 1992 Aug;4(8):953–960. doi: 10.1105/tpc.4.8.953. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Copenhaver G. P., Nickel K., Kuromori T., Benito M. I., Kaul S., Lin X., Bevan M., Murphy G., Harris B., Parnell L. D. Genetic definition and sequence analysis of Arabidopsis centromeres. Science. 1999 Dec 24;286(5449):2468–2474. doi: 10.1126/science.286.5449.2468. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dawe R. K., Reed L. M., Yu H. G., Muszynski M. G., Hiatt E. N. A maize homolog of mammalian CENPC is a constitutive component of the inner kinetochore. Plant Cell. 1999 Jul;11(7):1227–1238. doi: 10.1105/tpc.11.7.1227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dennis E. S., Peacock W. J. Knob heterochromatin homology in maize and its relatives. J Mol Evol. 1984;20(3-4):341–350. doi: 10.1007/BF02104740. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dong F., Miller J. T., Jackson S. A., Wang G. L., Ronald P. C., Jiang J. Rice (Oryza sativa) centromeric regions consist of complex DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jul 7;95(14):8135–8140. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.14.8135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gardiner J. M., Coe E. H., Chao S. Cloning maize telomeres by complementation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genome. 1996 Aug;39(4):736–748. doi: 10.1139/g96-093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gardiner J. M., Coe E. H., Melia-Hancock S., Hoisington D. A., Chao S. Development of a core RFLP map in maize using an immortalized F2 population. Genetics. 1993 Jul;134(3):917–930. doi: 10.1093/genetics/134.3.917. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gaut B. S., Doebley J. F. DNA sequence evidence for the segmental allotetraploid origin of maize. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Jun 24;94(13):6809–6814. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.13.6809. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Helentjaris T., Weber D., Wright S. Identification of the genomic locations of duplicate nucleotide sequences in maize by analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Genetics. 1988 Feb;118(2):353–363. doi: 10.1093/genetics/118.2.353. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jiang J., Nasuda S., Dong F., Scherrer C. W., Woo S. S., Wing R. A., Gill B. S., Ward D. C. A conserved repetitive DNA element located in the centromeres of cereal chromosomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Nov 26;93(24):14210–14213. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.24.14210. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kaszás E., Birchler J. A. Meiotic transmission rates correlate with physical features of rearranged centromeres in maize. Genetics. 1998 Dec;150(4):1683–1692. doi: 10.1093/genetics/150.4.1683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kaszás E., Birchler J. A. Misdivision analysis of centromere structure in maize. EMBO J. 1996 Oct 1;15(19):5246–5255. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kato A. Air drying method using nitrous oxide for chromosome counting in maize. Biotech Histochem. 1999 May;74(3):160–166. doi: 10.3109/10520299909047968. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kirschner L. S., Stratakis C. A. Large-scale preparation of sequence-ready bacterial artificial chromosome DNA using QIAGEN columns. Biotechniques. 1999 Jul;27(1):72–74. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Montag K., Salamini F., Thompson R. D. ZEMa, a member of a novel group of MADS box genes, is alternatively spliced in maize endosperm. Nucleic Acids Res. 1995 Jun 25;23(12):2168–2177. doi: 10.1093/nar/23.12.2168. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Mullis K., Faloona F., Scharf S., Saiki R., Horn G., Erlich H. Specific enzymatic amplification of DNA in vitro: the polymerase chain reaction. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1986;51(Pt 1):263–273. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1986.051.01.032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Peacock W. J., Dennis E. S., Rhoades M. M., Pryor A. J. Highly repeated DNA sequence limited to knob heterochromatin in maize. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jul;78(7):4490–4494. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.7.4490. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Presting G. G., Frary A., Pillen K., Tanksley S. D. Telomere-homologous sequences occur near the centromeres of many tomato chromosomes. Mol Gen Genet. 1996 Jul 19;251(5):526–531. doi: 10.1007/BF02173641. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rhoades M. M., Vilkomerson H. On the Anaphase Movement of Chromosomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1942 Oct;28(10):433–436. doi: 10.1073/pnas.28.10.433. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Richards E. J., Goodman H. M., Ausubel F. M. The centromere region of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 1 contains telomere-similar sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Jun 25;19(12):3351–3357. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.12.3351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Round E. K., Flowers S. K., Richards E. J. Arabidopsis thaliana centromere regions: genetic map positions and repetitive DNA structure. Genome Res. 1997 Nov;7(11):1045–1053. doi: 10.1101/gr.7.11.1045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wilson W. A., Harrington S. E., Woodman W. L., Lee M., Sorrells M. E., McCouch S. R. Inferences on the genome structure of progenitor maize through comparative analysis of rice, maize and the domesticated panicoids. Genetics. 1999 Sep;153(1):453–473. doi: 10.1093/genetics/153.1.453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Yu H. G., Hiatt E. N., Chan A., Sweeney M., Dawe R. K. Neocentromere-mediated chromosome movement in maize. J Cell Biol. 1997 Nov 17;139(4):831–840. doi: 10.1083/jcb.139.4.831. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES