A functional assay for centromere-associated sister chromatid cohesion

Cohesion of sister chromatids occurs along the entire Length of chromosomes , including the centromere where it plays essential roles in chromosome seg regation. Here, minichromosomes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisi ae are exploited to generate a functional assay for DNA sequences involved in cohesion. The centromeric DNA element CDEIII was found to be necessary b ut not sufficient for cohesion. This element was shown previously to be req uired for assembly of the kinetochore, the centromere-associated protein co mplex that attaches chromosomes to the spindle. These observations establis h a link between centromere-proximal cohesion and kinetochore assembly.