Event

Satellite DNA is a simple repetitive DNA found abundantly in the eukaryotic genomes, comprising more than 50% of the genome in some species. Despite its abundance, it has been mostly regarded as junk due to its lack of coding capacity and high divergence even between closely related species. I will present recent discoveries from our laboratory that showed the function of satellite DNA. First, we found that pericentromeric satellite DNA plays a critical role in bundling the full complement of the chromosomes into a single nucleus, thereby playing a critical role in configuration of eukaryotic nucleus. Second, we found a unique program that contributes to the expression of genes that contain mega-base-sized introns, which are composed of satellite DNA. Several genes are known to contain satellite DNA-rich large introns (including dystrophin genes in mammals), and the presence of a unique gene expression program indicates the role of satellite DNA in cellular functions.