酵母着丝粒和着丝点的渐进共同进化，这一成果由细胞生物学和生物物理学Gautam Dey团队经过不懈努力而取得。相关论文发表在2025年11月26日出版的《自然》杂志上。

在这里，该研究组试图通过识别和跟踪两个主要真菌分支（包括超过2,500个天然菌株分离株，代表超过10亿年的进化）中的着丝粒，了解生物体如何进化出全新的着丝粒，这些着丝粒仍然有效地与着丝粒机制结合。研究团队表明，新的着丝粒通过漂移和随后的选择逐渐扩散，而相对而言进化缓慢的着丝点似乎起着过滤器的作用，以确定哪些新的着丝粒变异是可以容忍的。总之，他们的发现提供了对形成着丝粒进化的进化限制和轨迹的见解。在两个主要的真菌分支中鉴定和跟踪了着丝粒的轨迹，表明新的着丝粒逐渐扩散，着丝点作为过滤器来确定哪些新的着丝粒变异是可以耐受的。

据了解，在有丝分裂过程中，着丝粒DNA和着丝点复合体之间稳定而动态的相互作用使染色体分离准确而有效。尽管着丝点的许多蛋白质是高度保守的，着丝粒是基因组中进化最快的区域之一，即使在短的进化时间尺度上也表现出广泛的变异。

附：英文原文

Title: Progressive coevolution of the yeast centromere and kinetochore

Author: Helsen, Jana, Ramachandran, Kausthubh, Sherlock, Gavin, Dey, Gautam

Issue&Volume: 2025-11-26

Abstract: During mitosis, stable but dynamic interactions between centromere DNA and the kinetochore complex enable accurate and efficient chromosome segregation. Even though many proteins of the kinetochore are highly conserved1,2, centromeres are among the fastest evolving regions in a genome3,4, showing extensive variation even on short evolutionary timescales. Here we sought to understand how organisms evolve completely new sets of centromeres that still effectively engage with the kinetochore machinery by identifying and tracking thousands of centromeres across two major fungal clades, including more than 2,500 natural strain isolates and representing over 1,000 million years of evolution. We show that new centromeres spread progressively via drift and subsequent selection and that the kinetochore, which is evolving slowly in relative terms, appears to act as a filter to determine which new centromere variants are tolerated. Together, our findings provide insight into the evolutionary constraints and trajectories shaping centromere evolution. Thousands of centromeres were identified and tracked across two major fungal clades, showing that new centromeres spread progressively and that the kinetochore acts as a filter to determine which new centromere variants are tolerated.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09779-1