chromosome

Researchers have discovered a mechanism that silences several genes in a chromosome domain. The findings, published in Molecular Cell, have implications in understanding the human disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

(Uppsala University) Researchers from Uppsala University have discovered a mechanism that silences several genes in a chromosome domain.

The findings, published in today's on-line issue of Molecular Cell, have implications in understanding the human disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Researchers have shown a mechanism that explains how two essential components of human telomerase -- normally active only in early prenatal development but turned back on during cancer growth -- are "recruited" from distinct sites in the cell to the telomere, an area at the end of a chromosome that normally protects it from destruction.

Recombination at centromeres is higher than anywhere else on the chromosome, even though methyltransferases do their best to prevent it, according to new research.

Centromeric recombination has been hard to study because the DNA at centromeres is so repetitive -- it's hard to see when a segment has switched chromatids.

New light has been shed on a novel histone acetyltransferase protein complex called ATAC. Acetyltransferases are enzymes that introduce a new acetyl functional group into histone proteins, a process by which all chromosome functions are controlled.