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Data from: Functional monocentricity with holocentric characteristics and chromosome-specific centromeres in a stick insect

Toubiana, William1; Dumas, Zoé1; Tran Van, Patrick2; Parker, Darren3; Mérel, Vincent1; Schubert, Veit4; Aury, Jean-Marc5; Bournonville, Lorène6; Cruaud, Corinne5; Houben, Andreas4; Istace, Benjamin5; Labadie, Karine5; Noel, Benjamin5; Schwander, Tanja1

Published Dec 03, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hx3ffbgph

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Dec 03, 2024 version files 2.55 MB

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Abstract

Centromeres are essential for chromosome segregation in eukaryotes, yet their specification is surprisingly diverse among species, and can involve major transitions such as those from localized to chromosome-wide centromeres between monocentric and holocentric species. How this diversity evolves remains elusive. We discovered within-cell variation in the recruitment of the major centromere protein CenH3, reminiscent of variation typically observed among species. While CenH3-containing nucleosomes are distributed in a monocentric fashion on autosomes and bind tandem repeat sequences specific to individual or groups of chromosomes, they show a longitudinal distribution and broad intergenic binding on the X chromosome, which partially recapitulates phenotypes known from holocentric species. Despite this variable CenH3 distribution among chromosomes, all chromosomes are functionally monocentric, marking the first instance of a monocentric species with chromosome-wide CenH3 deposition. Together, our findings illustrate a potential transitional state between mono- and holocentricity or towards CenH3-independent centromere determination, and help to understand the rapid centromere sequence divergence between species.