Chapter 12: The Eukaryotic Chromosome
When available, the links under the Suggested Readings section will take you to websites
that either provide free electronic full-text versions of these references, or links to online
abstracts. All of these abstracts are themselves free. Many of the abstract sites contain
links to online full-text versions of the references; some of these full-text versions are
free, while others require personal or institutional subscriptions. None of the sites that can
be accessed through the links below are affiliated with McGraw-Hill Publishers
Construction of Artificial Chromosomes
Selected Readings:

Harrington, J.J., et al. 1997. Formation of de novo centromeres and construction
of first-generation artificial chromosomes. Nature Genetics. 15(4): 345-355.
[Entrez-PubMed link]
Describes some of the initial work on centromeres that had led to the development
of human artificial chromosomes (HACs).

Murray AW and JW Szostak. 1983. Construction of artificial chromosomes in
yeast. Nature 305:189-93. [Entrez-PubMed link]
Describes the construction of an 55 kb long yeast artificial chromosome (YAC).

Murray AW and JW Szostak. 1987. Artificial chromosomes. Scientific American
257(5):62-68. [Entrez-PubMed link]
A very good review of the early work on artificial chromosomes, how they are
constructed, and what geneticists hope to use them for in their research.

Shizuya, H. B. Birren, U Kim, et al. 1992. Cloning and stable maintenance of
300-kilobase-pair fragments of human DNA in Escherichia coli using an F-factorbased plasmid. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 89:8794-8797.[full text link]
This paper describes the construction of bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs)
Chromosome Packaging and Mechanics
Selected Readings:
 Burlingame RW, WE love, BC Wang, et al. 1985. Crystallographic structure of
the octameric histone core of the nucleosome at a resolution of 3.3 Å. Science.
228:546-553. [Entrez-PubMed link]
Describes the physical dimensions of the histone and the H2A-H2B dimmers.
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
Hagamann M. 1999. How chromatin changes its shape. Science. 285(5431):12001203. [Entrez-PubMed link]
This paper describes some of the factors that causes chromatin to alter its shape
and the mechanisms by which those changes may occur.

Luger KA, W Mader, RK Richmond, et al. 1997. Crystal structure of the
nucleosome core particle at 2.8Å resolution. Nature. 389:251-260. [EntrezPubMed link]
Describes the structure of the 146 base-pair supercoiling around the nucleosome.

Mirkovich J, M-E Mirault, UK and Laemmli. 1984. Organization of the higherorder chromatin loop: Specific DNA attachment sites on nuclear scaffold. Cell
39:223-32. [full text link]
Based on research in Drosophila, this paper describes the interaction of the DNA
with the nuclear scaffold and examines some of the DNA sequences that are
believed to be involved in this process.

Ramakrishnan V. 1997. Histone structure and the organization of the nucleosome.
Annu Rev Biophys Biomol Struct. 26:83-112[Entrex-PubMed link]
A review of what is known about chromatin structure with regards to the
positioning of the histones.

Travers, A. 1999. The location of the linker histone on the nucleosome. Trends in
Biochemical Science. 24:4-7. [Entrez-PubMed link]
Examines how the linker H1 histone interacts with the other histones of the
nucleosome.
Recent Findings on X-chromosome Inactivation
Selected Readings:

Heard, E. 2004. Recent advances in X-chromosome inactivation. Curr Opin Cell
Biol. 16(3):247-255. [Entrez-PubMed link]
A review article on the role of Xist and chromatin change on the process of Xchromosome inactivation.
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

Reik W and A Lewis. 2005. Co-evolution of X-chromosome inactivation and
imprinting in mammals. Nat Rev Genet. 6(5):403-410 [Entrez-PubMed link]
An interesting review article that explores the evolution of X-chromosome
inactivation and imprinting from the egg-laying mammals to the placental
mammals.
Sado T, Y. Hoki and H Sasaki. 2005. Tsix silences Xist through modification of
chromatin structure. Dev Cell. 9(1): 159-165. [Entrex-PubMed link]
Examines the role of Tsix as a regulator of Xist. The paper also describes how
these genes represent examples of genomic imprinting and epigenic regulation.
Websites:

X-Chromosome Inactivation Project
http://www.pasteur.fr/recherche/unites/Gmm/xinactiv.html
Describes the research in the labs of Philippe Clerc, Claire Rougeulle and Philip
Avner in France.
Telomeres, Aging and Cancer
Selected Readings:

Bekaert S, T. De Meyer and P. Oostveldt. 2005. Telomere attrition as ageing
biomarker. Anticancer Res. 25(4): 3011-3021. [Entrez-PubMed link]
A review that examines the potential relationship between telomere length and the
processes of biological and chronological aging. The article also summarizes what
is known about rates of telomere loss.

Blackburn EH. 2000. Telomere States and Cell Fates. Nature. 408(6808):53-56.
[Entrez-PubMed link]
This article examines the possibility that the caps on the ends of the telomeres are
a more important indicator of cell longevity than the length of the telomere.

de Lange, T. 2004. T-loops and the Origin of Telomeres. Nature Rev Mol Cell
Biol. 5(4):323-329. [Entrez-PubMed link]
A review paper about what is known regarding how telomeres are formed and
maintained.

de Lange, T. 2005. Shelterin: the protein complex that shapes and safeguards
human telomeres. Genes Dev. 19(18):2100-2110. [Entrez-PubMed]
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This paper introduces a six-subunit protein complex that protects the ends of the
telomeres.

Kim SH, P. Kaminker and J. Campisi. 2002. Telomeres, aging and cancer: in
search of a happy ending. Oncogene. 21(4):503-511 [Entrez-PubMed link]
A review paper that examines what is known to date regarding telomere
dynamics, cell death and cancer.

McEachern MJ, A Krauskopf and EH Blackburn. 2000. Telomeres and their
control. Ann Rev Genetics. 34:331-358. [Entrez-PubMed link]
A review of the interaction of telomeres with the telomerase enzymes and how the
length of the telomeres are maintained in normal cells.
Websites:

Telomeres at Learn Genetics
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
This site, provided by the University of Utah, provides a nice introduction to
telomeres and their possible relationship to aging and cancer.

Telomere.org
http://www.telomere.org/
A research site dedicated to the study of information regarding telomere evolution
in all vertebrates, not just humans.
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