Despite the immense amount of genetic material present in each cell, around three billion base pairs in humans, this material needs to be accurately divided in two and allocated in equal quantities.

"For decades, the centromere has been a genomic blind spot. Now, with complete assemblies and detailed repeat maps, we can begin to ask new questions about how centromeres originate, diversify, and ...

A joint research group team led by Sayuri Tsukahara and Tetsuji Kakutani of the University of Tokyo has clarified a mechanism of how retrotransposons, genetic elements that can "jump around" ...

Just one enzyme manages the refilling of the cellular soda machine that replicates our genes. PLK-1 initiates a process in two protein groups, leading to creation of new CENP-A proteins. These CENP-A ...

Super-resolution microscopy image of a mitotic chromosome (white) with the centromeres of each sister chromatid depicted in orange. Each centromere consists of two distinct chromatin subdomains ...

Osaka, Japan – The genetic material inside cells is organized into structures called chromosomes. The centromere is essential for the correct division of the chromosomes via interaction with spindle ...

Researchers propose a two-step regulatory mechanism for non-Rabl configurations of centromeres in the nucleus. Centromeres are chromosomal domains that link pairs of sister chromatids together during ...

Just like you might use a belt to keep your clothes in place, the centromere holds a pair of chromatids together and attaches it to the mitotic spindle during cell division to ensure that each ...

Since the 1800s, scientists have observed the configuration of centromeres -- a special chromosomal region that is vital during certain types of cell division -- in the nucleus. Up until this point, ...

Centromeres are curious structures. These specially organized chromosomal regions are best known for their unique and critical role in cell division, in which they are well understood to serve as the ...

About a third to two-thirds down the shaft of a chromosome is a constricted site called the centromere. When a chromosome replicates, the old and new pair (called chromatids) are held together at this ...