Definition
Certain regions of the chromosome, including the centromere and telomeres, are perpetually maintained in a heterochromatin state. These regions of the chromosome contain not only DNA and histones but also other proteins that help the DNA stay tightly packaged and unable to be transcribed. Centromeres and telomeres perform important functions unrelated to gene expression. Telomeres maintain the stability of each individual chromosome, while centromeres promote the faithful segregation of chromosomes during meiosis and mitosis. The DNA in these regions is tightly packed with proteins that aid their respective functions. These regions, as they are not normally accessible to transcription machinery, do not contain genes.
Discussion
Many regions of eukaryotic chromosomes are subject to permanent or long-term silencing resulting from changes in chromatin structure. This silencing can be inherited from one...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bühler M, Gasser SM (2009) Silent chromatin at the middle and ends: lessons from yeasts. EMBO 28:2149–2161
Meneghini MD, Wu M, Madhani HD (2003) Conserved histone variant H2A.Z protects euchromatin from the ectopic spread of silent heterochromatin. Cell 112:725–736
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Khan, S., Hilliker, A. (2014). Long-Term Genetic Silencing at Centromere and Telomeres. In: Bell, E. (eds) Molecular Life Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6436-5_760-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6436-5_760-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6436-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences