The centromere region in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is characterized by short DNA fragments, less than 1,000 bp in length, that are capable of stabilizing entire chromosomes throughout mitotic and meiotic cell divisions. The CEN fragments are organized in a unique chromatin structure and are surrounded by ordered arrays of nucleosomal subunits. RNA transcripts are found 200-300 bp from the centromere, and lie within this ordered chromatin array. No transcripts have been detected through the centromere itself. We have examined the expression and cellular function of a tightly centromere-linked transcript on chromosome 11, (CEN11)L. The (CEN11)L transcript is present at constitutive levels throughout the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles. Disruption of the coding sequences in vivo has no effect on cell viability or mitotic growth, but the cells are unable to sporulate. Genetic complementation with known mutants in sporulation (spo10, spo13) has defined (CEN11)L as a new locus that appears to be required during both meiotic segregation divisions.