The N-terminal tail of C. elegans CENP-A interacts with KNL-2 and is essential for centromeric chromatin assembly
In: Molecular Biology of the Cell, Jg. 32 (2021-06-01), Heft 12
Online
academicJournal
- 1193 - 1201
Centromeres are epigenetically defined by the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A. Specialized loading machinery, including the histone chaperone HJURP/Scm3, participates in CENP-A nucleosome assembly. However, Scm3/HJURP is missing from multiple lineages, including nematodes, with CENP-A-dependent centromeres. Here, we show that the extended N-terminal tail of Caenorhabditis elegans CENP-A contains a predicted structured region that is essential for centromeric chromatin assembly; removal of this region prevents CENP-A loading, resulting in failure of kinetochore assembly and defective chromosome condensation. By contrast, the N-tail mutant CENP-A localizes normally in the presence of endogenous CENP-A. The portion of the N-tail containing the predicted structured region binds to KNL-2, a conserved SANTA domain and Myb domain-containing protein (referred to as M18BP1 in vertebrates) specifically involved in CENP-A chromatin assembly. This direct interaction is conserved in the related nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae, despite divergence of the N-tail and KNL-2 primary sequences. Thus, the extended N-tail of CENP-A is essential for CENP-A chromatin assembly in C. elegans and partially substitutes for the function of Scm3/HJURP, in that it mediates a direct interaction between CENP-A and KNL-2. These results highlight an evolutionary variation on centromeric chromatin assembly in the absence of a dedicated CENP-A-specific chaperone/targeting factor of the Scm3/HJURP family.
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The N-terminal tail of C. elegans CENP-A interacts with KNL-2 and is essential for centromeric chromatin assembly
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | de Groot, Christian ; Houston, Jack ; Davis, Bethany ; Gerson-Gurwitz, Adina ; Monen, Joost ; Lara-Gonzalez, Pablo ; Oegema, Karen ; Shiau, Andrew K ; Desai, Arshad |
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Zeitschrift: | Molecular Biology of the Cell, Jg. 32 (2021-06-01), Heft 12 |
Veröffentlichung: | eScholarship, University of California, 2021 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
Umfang: | 1193 - 1201 |
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