Epigenetic origin of evolutionary novel centromeres.

Most evolutionary new centromeres (ENC) are composed of large arrays of satellite DNA and surrounded by segmental duplications. However, the hypothesis is that ENCs are seeded in an anonymous sequence and only over time have acquired the complexity of "normal" centromeres. Up to now evidence to test this hypothesis was lacking. We recently discovered that the well-known polymorphism of orangutan chromosome 12 was due to the presence of an ENC. We sequenced the genome of an orangutan homozygous for the ENC, and we focused our analysis on the comparison of the ENC domain with respect to its wild type counterpart. No significant variations were found. This finding is the first clear evidence that ENC seedings are epigenetic in nature. The compaction of the ENC domain was found significantly higher than the corresponding WT region and, interestingly, the expression of the only gene embedded in the region was significantly repressed.

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Probe Preparation.

The public human genome sequencing project utilized a hierarchical approach. A large number of BAC/PAC clones, with an insert size approximate from 50 kb to 300 kb, were identified and finely mapped with respect to the Sequence Tagged Site (STS) physical map and with respect to each other. A "golden path" of BACs, covering the entire human genome, was then selected and each clone was fully sequenced. The large number of remaining BACs was not fully sequenced, but the availability of the end sequence (~800-1000 bp) at each end allowed them to be very precisely mapped on the human genome.The search for copy number variations of the human genome used several strategies. One of these approaches took advantage of the fact that fosmid clones, contrary to BAC/PAC clones, have a fixed insert size (~40 kb) (Kidd et al., Nature 453: 56-64, 2008). In this context, the ends of ~7 million fosmid clones were sequenced, and therefore it was possible to precisely map these clones on the human genome.In summary, a large number of genomic clones (GC) are available for FISH experiments. They usually yield bright FISH signals and are extremely precious for molecular cytogenetics, and in particular cancer cytogenetics. The already-labeled probes available commercially are usually based on a combination of such GCs. The present chapter summarizes the protocols for extracting, labeling, and hybridization onto slides of DNA obtained from GC.

A comprehensive molecular cytogenetic analysis of chromosome rearrangements in gibbons.

Chromosome rearrangements in small apes are up to 20 times more frequent than in most mammals. Because of their complexity, the full extent of chromosome evolution in these hominoids is not yet fully documented. However, previous work with array painting, BAC-FISH, and selective sequencing in two of the four karyomorphs has shown that high-resolution methods can precisely define chromosome breakpoints and map the complex flow of evolutionary chromosome rearrangements. Here we use these tools to precisely define the rearrangements that have occurred in the remaining two karyomorphs, genera Symphalangus (2n = 50) and Hoolock (2n = 38). This research provides the most comprehensive insight into the evolutionary origins of chromosome rearrangements involved in transforming small apes genome. Bioinformatics analyses of the human-gibbon synteny breakpoints revealed association with transposable elements and segmental duplications, providing some insight into the mechanisms that might have promoted rearrangements in small apes. In the near future, the comparison of gibbon genome sequences will provide novel insights to test hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of chromosome evolution. The precise definition of synteny block boundaries and orientation, chromosomal fusions, and centromere repositioning events presented here will facilitate genome sequence assembly for these close relatives of humans.