Although plants were the organisms of choice in several classical centromere studies, molecular and biochemical studies of plant centromeres have lagged behind those in model animal species. However, in the past several years, several centromeric repetitive DNA elements have been isolated in plant species and their roles in centromere function have been demonstrated. Most significantly, a Ty3/gypsy class of centromere-specific retrotransposons, the CR family, was discovered in the grass species. The CR elements are highly enriched in chromatin domains associated with CENH3, the centromere-specific histone H3 variant. CR elements as well as their flanking centromeric satellite DNA are actively transcribed in maize. These data suggest that the deposition of centromeric histones might be a transcription-coupled event.

中文翻译：

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植物着丝粒的分子观点。

尽管在一些经典着丝粒研究中，植物是首选的生物，但是植物着丝粒的分子和生化研究仍落后于模型动物物种。然而，在过去的几年中，已经在植物物种中分离了几种着丝粒重复DNA元件，并且已经证明了它们在着丝粒功能中的作用。最重要的是，在草种中发现了Ty3 /吉普赛类的着丝粒特异性逆转座子CR家族。CR元素高度富集与着丝粒特异性组蛋白H3变体CENH3相关的染色质域。CR元素及其侧翼着丝粒卫星DNA在玉米中活跃转录。这些数据表明着丝粒组蛋白的沉积可能是转录偶联事件。