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Evolutionary insights into the role of the essential centromere protein CAL1 in Drosophila

Overview of attention for article published in Chromosome Research, July 2012
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Title
Evolutionary insights into the role of the essential centromere protein CAL1 in Drosophila
Published in
Chromosome Research, July 2012
DOI 10.1007/s10577-012-9299-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ragini Phansalkar, Pascal Lapierre, Barbara G. Mellone

Abstract

Centromeres are essential cis-elements on chromosomes that are crucial for the stable transmission of genetic information during mitotic and meiotic cell divisions. Different species employ a variety of centromere configurations, from small genetically defined centromeres in budding yeast to holocentric centromeres that occupy entire chromosomes in Caenorhabditis, yet the incorporation of nucleosomes containing the essential centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A is a common feature of centromeres in all eukaryotes. In vertebrates and fungi, CENP-A is specifically deposited at centromeres by a conserved chaperone, called HJURP or Scm3, respectively. Surprisingly, homologs of these proteins have not been identified in Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, or plants. How CENP-A is targeted to centromeres in these organisms is not known. The Drosophila centromeric protein CAL1, found only in the Diptera genus, is essential for CENP-A localization, is recruited to centromeres at a similar time as CENP-A, and interacts with CENP-A in both chromatin and pre-nucleosomal complexes, making it a strong candidate for a CENP-A chaperone in this lineage. Here, we discuss the conservation and evolution of this essential centromere factor and report the identification of a "Scm3-domain"-like region with similarity to the corresponding region of fungal Scm3 as well as a shared predicted alpha-helical structure. Given the lack of common ancestry between Scm3 and CAL1, we propose that an optimal CENP-A binding region was independently acquired by CAL1, which caused the loss of an ancestral Scm3 protein from the Diptera lineage.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 39 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Spain 1 3%
United States 1 3%
Unknown 37 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 15 38%
Researcher 9 23%
Student > Doctoral Student 4 10%
Student > Master 4 10%
Lecturer 1 3%
Other 1 3%
Unknown 5 13%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 20 51%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 14 36%
Unknown 5 13%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 October 2012.
All research outputs
#20,171,868
of 22,684,168 outputs
Outputs from Chromosome Research
#456
of 507 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#146,007
of 163,015 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Chromosome Research
#11
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,684,168 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.