Awesome new work from @labschneeberger.bsky.social (with a small contribution from the Weigel lab). Experimentally observed mutational patterns in centromeres underpin a model that recapitulates intra-specific centromere divergence!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Our work suggests centromere evolution follows a unique mutational path, dominated by small, local events with massive structural consequences.

📄 Read the preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#genomics #bioRxiv #centromere #Arabidopsis

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Simulations using just these small mutations recreated large-scale repeat structures, like higher-order repeats and long-range homology.

Big architecture from tiny edits.

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Key findings:
• Point mutations occur 9× faster in centromeres than elsewhere
• Non-allelic gene conversions copy sequences between repeats
• In-frame indels preserve repeat structure
→ All without large rearrangements

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Centromeres are full of repetitive satellite DNA, often megabases long, but how do they evolve?

Using Arabidopsis mutation accumulation lines, we tracked real-time mutation patterns in these regions.

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🚨 My first PhD preprint is out on bioRxiv!
We show how tiny mutations—point mutations and kb-level indels—can shape the massive structure of Arabidopsis centromeres.
📄 Read it here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧵 A short thread 👇