Early-replicating heterochromatin

  1. Soo-Mi Kim1,
  2. Dharani D. Dubey2, and
  3. Joel A. Huberman1,3
  1. 1Department of Cancer Genetics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263, USA; 2Department of Biotechnology, VBS Purvanchal University, Jaunpur 222001, India

Abstract

Euchromatin, which has an open structure and is frequently transcribed, tends to replicate in early S phase. Heterochromatin, which is more condensed and rarely transcribed, usually replicates in late S phase. Here, we report significant deviation from this correlation in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We found that heterochromatic centromeres and silent mating-type cassettes replicate in early S phase. Only heterochromatic telomeres replicate in late S phase. Research in other laboratories has shown that occasionally other organisms also replicate some of their heterochromatin in early S phase. Thus, late replication is not an obligatory feature of heterochromatin.

Keywords

Footnotes

  • 3 Corresponding author.

  • E-MAIL joel.huberman{at}roswellpark.org; FAX (716) 845-8126.

  • Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1046203.

    • Received October 1, 2002.
    • Accepted November 27, 2002.
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