Abstract
Viewed from a molecular perspective, the eukaryotic chromosome is an immense structure. Viewed from a physiological perspective, it is not one structure at all, but a family of related structures, differing from one another in form and activity. Even a single chromosome has pronounced structural variation along its length and is changeable from one moment to the next. These factors make the chromosome a difficult object to study, and our understanding of the details of its structure and function remains incomplete. However, in recent years the analytical methods of molecular biology and the discovery of model systems in which to study chromosome function have greatly expanded our understanding of the eukaryotic chromosome. The results have been reviewed in numerous books and articles (for example, Alberts et al., 1983, 1989; Darnell et al., 1990; Jeppesen and Bower, 1987).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alberts B, Bray D, Lewis J, et al. (1983) Molecular biology of the cell. Garland, New York
Alberts B, Bray D, Lewis J, et al. (1989) Molecular biology of the cell, 2nd edn. Garland, New York
Belmont AS, Braunfeld MB, Sedat JW, et al. (1990) Large-scale chromatin structural domains within mitotic and interphase chromosomes in vivo and in vitro. Chromosoma 98:129–143
Blackburn EH (1991) Structure and function of telomeres. Nature 350:569–73
Brinkley BR (1990) Centromeres and kinetochores: Integrated domains on eukaryotic chromosomes. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2:446–452
Clarke L, Carbon J (1985) The structure and function of yeast centromeres. Annu Rev Genet 19:29–56
Darnell J, Lodish H, Baltimore D (1990) Molecular cell biology, 2nd edn. Scientific American Books, Freeman, New York
Dimitrov SI, Makarov VL, Pashev IG (1990) The chromatin fiber: Structure and conformational transitions as revealed by optical anisotropy studies. J Biomol Struct Dynamics 8:23–35
Earnshaw WC, Bernat RL (1991) Chromosomal passengers: toward an integrated view of mitosis. Chromosoma 100:139–146
Earnshaw WC, Heck MMS (1985) Localization of topoisomerase II in mitotic chromosomes. J Cell Biol 100:1716–1725
Earnshaw WC, Ratrie H, Stetten G (1989) Visualization of centromere proteins CENP-B and CENP-C on a stable dicentric chromosome in cytological spreads. Chromosoma 98:1–12
Eissenberg JC, Cartwright IL, Thomas GH, et al. (1985) Selected topics in chromatin structure. Annu Rev Genet 19:485–536
Gasser SM, Laemmli UK (1987) A glimpse at chromosomal order. Trends Genet 3:16–22
Grunstein M (1990) Nucleosomes: regulators of transcription. Trends Genet 6: 395–400
Haaf T, Schmid M (1991) Chromosome topology in mammalian interphase nuclei. Exp Cell Res 192:325–332
Hadlaczky G, Praznovszky T, Rasko I, et al. (1989) I. Mitosis specific centromere antigen recognized by anit-centromere autoantibodies. Chromosoma 97:282–288
Hastie ND, Allshire RC (1989) Human telomeres: fusion and interstitial sites. Trends Genet 5:326–331
Jeppesen P, Bower DJ (1987) Towards understanding the structure of eukaryotic chromosomes. In: Obe G, Basler A (eds) Cytogenetics. Springer, Berlin/ Heidelberg, pp 1–29
Klug A (1985) The higher order structure of chromatin. Proc Robert A Welch Found Conf Chem Res 29:133–160
Kornberg RD, Klug A (1981) The nucleosome. Sci Am 244:52–64
Maxson R, Cohn R, Kedes L, et al. (1983) Expression and organization of histone genes. Annu Rev Genet 17:239–277
Moyzis RK, Buckingham JM, Cram LS, et al. (1988) A highly conserved repetitive DNA sequence, TTAGGGn, present at the telomeres of human chromosomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:6622–6626
Pardue ML, Hennig W (1990) Heterochromatin: Junk or collectors item? Chromosoma 100:3–7
Patau K (1965) The chromosomes. In: Birth defects: original article series, I. New York: The National Foundation, pp 71–74
Paulson JR, Laemmli UK (1977) The structure of histone-depleted metaphase chromosomes. Cell 12:817–828
Ris H, Korenberg JR (1979) Chromosome structure and levels of chromosome organization. In: Goldstein L, Prescott DM (eds) Cell biology, Vol 2. Academic, New York, pp 268–361
Scheer U, Spring H, Trendelenburg MF (1979) Organization of transcriptionally active chromatin in lampbrush chromosome loops. In: Busch H (ed) The cell nucleus, Vol 7. Academic, New York, pp 3–47
Stahl A, Luciani JU, Devictor U, et al. (1975) Constitutive heterochromatin and micronucleoli in the human oocyte at the diplotene stage. Humangenetik 26: 315–327
Svaren J, Chalkley R (1990) The structure and assembly of active chromatin. Trends Genet 6:52–56
Wilkie AOM, Lamb J, Harris PC, et al. (1990) A truncated human chromosome 16 with α thalassaemia is stabilized by addition of telomeric repeat (TTAGGG)n. Nature 346:868–871
Willard HF (1990) Centromeres of mammalian chromosomes. Trends Genet 6:410–416
Williams SP, Athey BD, Muglia LJ, et al. (1986) Chromatin fibers are left-handed double helices with a diameter and mass per unit length that depend on linker length. Biophys J 49:233–248
Woodcock CL, Woodcock H, Horowitz RA (1991 a) Ultrastructure of chromatin: I. Negative staining of isolated fibers. J Cell Sci 99:99–106
Woodcock CL, McEwen BF, Frank J (1991 b) Ultrastructure of chromatin: II. Three-dimensional reconstruction of isolated fibers. J Cell Sci 99:107–114
Zakian VA (1989) Structure and function of telomeres. Annu Rev Genet 23:579–604
Zinkowski RP, Meyne J, Brinkley BR (1991) The centromere-kinetochore complex: a repeat subunit model. J Cell Biol 113:1091–1110
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Therman, E., Susman, M. (1993). Architecture and Function of the Eukaryotic Chromosome. In: Human Chromosomes. Springer Study Edition. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0529-3_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0529-3_8
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-97871-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0529-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive