Cover image

Cover Natural variation in Arabidopsis uncovers VIM1, a gene encoding a methylcytosine-binding protein required for proper centromere DNA methylation and centromere organization at interphase. Shown here are various images from two different strains of Arabidopsis thaliana: The naturally occurring Borky-4 strain, which carries a vim1 loss-of-function allele, is shown at the bottom right, and the wild-type laboratory strain, Columbia, is shown at the top left. Adjacent to the whole plant is a DAPI-stained image of its respective interphase nuclei, as determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization of centromeric 180-base-pair repeats (green) and immunolocalization of the centromere-specific histone H3, HTR12 (red). Shown in the middle are the corresponding nuclear images without DAPI counterstaining. Loss of VIM1 function leads to a decondensation of centromeric DNA and a restriction of the HTR12 foci. (For details, see Woo et al., p. 267.)