Double-strand Breaks in Heterochromatin (IMAGE)

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Double-strand Breaks in Heterochromatin

Caption

Heterochromatin (purple) accounts for a third of the chromatin in both humans and fruit flies. Some heterochromatin forms the telomeres that cap the ends of the chromatids, and much is concentrated near the centromere, where sister chromatids are joined. Accurate repair of double-strand breaks in heterochromatin is challenging, because most of its DNA consists of short, repeated sequences.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

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