The modular mechanism of chromocenter formation in Drosophila
- University of Michigan, United States
Abstract
A central principle underlying the ubiquity and abundance of pericentromeric satellite DNA repeats in eukaryotes has remained poorly understood. Previously we proposed that the interchromosomal clustering of satellite DNAs into nuclear structures known as chromocenters ensures encapsulation of all chromosomes into a single nucleus (Jagannathan et al., 2018). Chromocenter disruption led to micronuclei formation, resulting in cell death. Here we show that chromocenter formation is mediated by a 'modular' network, where associations between two sequence-specific satellite DNA-binding proteins, D1 and Prod, bound to their cognate satellite DNAs, bring the full complement of chromosomes into the chromocenter. D1 prod double mutants die during embryogenesis, exhibiting enhanced phenotypes associated with chromocenter disruption, revealing the universal importance of satellite DNAs and chromocenters. Taken together, we propose that associations between chromocenter modules, consisting of satellite DNA binding proteins and their cognate satellite DNA, package the Drosophila genome within a single nucleus.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for relevant Figures.
Article and author information
Author details
Madhav Jagannathan
Yukiko M Yamashita
Funding
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Yukiko M Yamashita
American Heart Association
- Madhav Jagannathan
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2019, Jagannathan et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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The modular mechanism of chromocenter formation in Drosophila
eLife 8:e43938.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43938
