A CEREAL CENTROMERIC SEQUENCE

We report the identification of a family of sequences located by in si tu hybridisation to the centromeres of all the Triticeae chromosomes s tudied, including the supernumerary and midget chromosomes, the centro meres of all maize chromosomes and the heterochromatic regions of rice chromosomes. This family of sequences (CCS1), together with the cerea l genome alignments, will allow the evolution of the cereal centromere s and their sites to be studied. The family of sequences also shows ho mology to the CENP-B box. The centromeres of the cereal species and th e proteins that interact with them can now be characterised.