Differential k-mer distributions enable identification of tetrapod subterminal heterochromatin

Researchers developed a k-mer-based algorithm that identifies satellite repeats in tetrapod subterminal heterochromatin. The algorithm detected low-density satellites in diploid primates and Xenopus tropicalis, and in the allotetraploid Xenopus laevis it revealed that subterminal heterochromatin contains ancestral subgenome-specific repeats. The finding challenges the model that ectopic recombination drives non-homologous chromosomes to share repeat sequences in primates.