Ricerc@Sapienza

Parodontidae is a relatively small group of Neotropical characiform fishes
consisting of three genera (Apareiodon, Parodon, and Saccodon) with 32 valid
species. A vast cytogenetic literature is available on Apareiodon and Parodon, but
to date, there is no cytogenetic data about Saccodon, a genus that contains only
three species with a trans-Andean distribution. In the present study the karyotype
of S. wagneri was described, based on both conventional (Giemsa staining, Ag-
NOR, C-bands) and molecular (repetitive DNA mapping by fluorescent in situ

Centromeres are chromosomal regions that are crucial for chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis, and failed centromere formation can contribute to chromosomal anomalies. Despite this conserved function, centromeres differ significantly between and even within species. Thus far, systematic studies into the organization and evolution of fungal centromeres remain scarce. In this study, we identified the centromeres in each of the 10 species of the fungal genus Verticillium and characterized their organization and evolution.

Constitutive heterochromatin represents a significant portion of eukaryotic genomes,
but its functions still need to be elucidated. Even in the most updated genetics
and molecular biology textbooks, constitutive heterochromatin is portrayed
mainly as the ‘silent’ component of eukaryotic genomes. However, there may be
more complexity to the relationship between heterochromatin and gene expression.
In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a model for heterochromatin studies,
about one-third of the genome is heterochromatic and is concentrated in the

Telomeres, the nucleoprotein structures that cap the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, play important and multiple roles in tumorigenesis. Functional telomeres need the establishment of a protective chromatin structure based on the interplay between the specific complex named shelterin and a tight nucleosomal organization. Telomere shortening in duplicating somatic cells leads eventually to the destabilization of the telomere capping structure and to the activation of a DNA damage response (DDR) signaling.