Gene duplication and the preservation of both copies during evolution is an intriguing evolutionary phenomenon. Their preservation is related to the function they perform. The central component of centromere specification and function is the centromere-specific histone H3 (CENH3). Some cereal species (maize, rice) have one copy of the gene encoding this protein, while some (wheat, barley, rye) have two. Therefore, they represent a good model for a comparative study of the functional activity of the duplicated CENH3 genes and their protein products. We determined the organization of the CENH3 locus in rye (Secale cereale L.) and identified the functional motifs in the vicinity of the CENH3 genes. We compared the expression of these genes at different stages of plant development and the loading of their products, the CENH3 proteins, into nucleosomes during mitosis and meiosis. Using extended chromatin fibers, we revealed patterns of loading CENH3 proteinsinto polynucleosomal domains in centromeric chromatin. Our results indicate no sign of neofunctionalization, subfunctionalization or specialization in the gene copies. The influence of negative selection on the coding part of the genes led them to preserve their conserved function. The advantage of having two functional genes appears as the gene-dosage effect.
Keywords: CENH3 expression; CENH3 loading; CENH3 variants; Secale cereale; functional DNA motifs; gene duplication; subdomain organization of nucleosomes.