Abstract
Centromeres in Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei can be localised to regions between directional gene clusters that contain degenerate retroelements, and in the case of T. brucei, repetitive DNA.
Highlights
Trypanosomes are parasitic protozoa that diverged early from the main eukaryotic lineage
On the basis of these two independent approaches applied to two separate chromosomes, we suggest a paradigm for T. cruzi centromeric DNA; GC-rich strand-switch domains composed predominantly of degenerate retrotransposons
We found Topo-II activity to be a regional phenomenon in T. brucei chromosomes, concentrated at single sites located between directional gene clusters
Summary
Trypanosomes are parasitic protozoa that diverged early from the main eukaryotic lineage. Their genomes display several unusual characteristics and, despite completion of the trypanosome genome projects, the location of centromeric DNA has not been identified. Centromeres are the chromosomal loci where kinetochores are assembled. The centromere/kinetochore complex is the anchor for attachment of the microtubule spindles that facilitate segregation. Centromeres are 'regional' and can encompass large regions of chromosomal DNA, ranging from 0.3-15 Mb in species as diverse as plants, insects and mammals [1]. Less common are 'point' centromeres, such as those in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where specific 125 basepair (bp) elements are sufficient for spindle attachment [3]. A few organisms, including Caenorhabditis elegans, lack specific centromeric domains and have holocentric chromosomes, where microtubules bind along the entire length of the chromosome [4]
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