Centromere round-up at the heterochromatin corral

Studies in several organisms have shown that eukaryotic centromere regions contain proteins involved in chromosome inheritance functions such as centromere structure, heterochromatin assembly and sister chromatid cohesion. Mutation, inhibition, knockout and reciprocal epistasis experiments have revealed functions for many centromere region proteins and their order in the centromere assembly pathway. Proteins are organized into spatially distinct domains that might be established, separated and maintained by boundary elements and/or heterochromatin. Dissecting the multi-domain configuration of centromeres will enhance our knowledge of centromere and chromosome assembly and might aid in engineering artificial chromosomes for agricultural and gene therapy applications.