Abstract
An increasing number of observations suggest an evolutionary switch of centromere position on monocentric eukaryotic chromosomes which otherwise display a conserved sequence of genes and markers. Such observations are particularly frequent for primates and equidae (for review see Heredity 108:59–67, 2012) but occur also in marsupials (J Hered 96:217–224, 2005) and in plants (Chromosome Res 25:299–311, 2017 and references therein). The actual mechanism(s) behind remained unclear in many cases (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:6542–6547, 2004; Trends Genet 30:66–74, 2014). The same is true for de novo centromere formation on chromosomes lacking an active centromere. This article focuses on recent reports on centromere repositioning and possible mechanisms behind and addresses open questions.
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Acknowledgements
I thank Jörg Fuchs, Andreas Houben, Inna Lermontova, IPK Gatersleben, and Jiri Macas, C. Budejovice, for the critical reading, Karin Lipfert for the artwork, and Catrin Kaydamov for the help with the references.
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Schubert, I. What is behind “centromere repositioning”?. Chromosoma 127, 229–234 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-018-0672-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-018-0672-y