"Chromosome rearrangements" refers to changes or alterations in the structure of chromosomes, the genetic material found in our cells. These rearrangements can include deletions, duplications, inversions, or translocations of certain sections of the chromosomes. These changes can affect the normal functioning of genes and can potentially influence an individual's health or development.
Full definition
To that end, the US National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda is developing a database, ClinVar, to integrate clinical and genetic data; others, such as DECIPHER, run by the Sanger Institute, handle genetic data such
as chromosome rearrangements that can disrupt genes.
The work «helps us to understand how chromosomes have changed over time,
which chromosome rearrangements may have led to the formation of new species, and what might be driving chromosomal rearrangements,» says Janine Deakin, a geneticist at the University of Canberra who was not involved with the work.
Defects in nuclear actin polymerization and myosin motor function result in heterochromatin repair defects and
widespread chromosome rearrangements, revealing the importance of the relocalization pathway in genome integrity.
In some cancers this process goes wrong, with AID acting out of control and creating mutations and
chromosome rearrangements that make the tumor more aggressive.
The results of this study, published now in the open access journal PLOS Biology, raise the possibility that
chromosome rearrangements involving these regions, often seen in many cancers, can induce additional errors in cell division and thereby compromise genetic stability.
But he agrees that
chromosome rearrangement is probably not the initial trigger for speciation.
Heritable genetic variation is the result of genome instability during germ cell development, instability that arises through mutation,
chromosome rearrangement or chromosome mis - segregation during mitosis or meiosis.