Centromeres are defined by the presence of @entity28621 , a variant of histone H3. Centromeres in most plant species contain exclusively highly repetitive DNA sequences, which has hindered research on structure and function of centromeric chromatin. Several @entity2829 centromeres have been nearly completely sequenced, providing a sequence-based platform for genomic and epigenomic research of plant centromeres. Here we report a high resolution map of @entity28621 nucleosomes in the @entity2829 genome. Although @entity28621 nucleosomes are spaced    190  bp on average, @entity28621 nucleosomes that occupied CentC, a 156-bp centromeric satellite repeat, showed clear positioning aligning with CentC monomers. @entity2829 centromeres contain alternating @entity28621 -enriched and @entity28621 -depleted subdomains, which account for 87% and 13% of the centromeres, respectively. A number of annotated genes were identified in the centromeres, including 11 active genes that were located exclusively in @entity28621 -depleted subdomains. The euchromatic histone modification marks, including H3K4me3, H3K36me3 and H3K9ac, detected in @entity2829 centromeres were associated mainly with the active genes. Interestingly, @entity2829 centromeres also have lower levels of the heterochromatin histone modification mark H3K27me2 relative to pericentromeric regions. We conclude that neither H3K27me2 nor the three euchromatic histone modifications are likely to serve as functionally important epigenetic marks of centromere identity in @entity2829 .

Gene Expression and Chromatin Modifications Associated with XXXX Centromeres.

@entity28621 :: ('542500(Tax:4577)', 'Gene') :: ['CENH3'] @entity2829 :: ('4577', 'Species') :: ['maize', 'Maize']
@entity2829 :: (4577,Species) :: ['Maize']
