{
  "abstract": "Many dinoflagellates package exceptionally large nuclear genomes within the dinokaryon, a nucleus that departs from conventional eukaryotic patterns of chromosome condensation, DNA packaging, and mitosis. Their chromosomes remain visibly condensed through most or all of the cell cycle. In many core dinoflagellates, DNA exhibits cholesteric liquid-crystalline order, while canonical nucleosomal chromatin does not serve as the dominant structural framework. This review synthesizes current evidence on dinoflagellate chromosome organization, spanning molecular packaging mechanisms and three-dimensional nuclear architecture. Dinoflagellates are histone-poor rather than histone-free: divergent core histones persist at low abundance, whereas HCc/MBNP-type proteins can be highly abundant in some species, with additional contributions from dinoflagellate viral nucleoproteins, divalent cations, RNA-associated factors, and modified DNA bases. Classical electron microscopy revealed nested arch patterns consistent with cholesteric order and inspired spiral, double-helical, and toroidal chromonema models, although molecular-resolution support remains lacking and fixation-sensitive features require caution. Recent volume electron microscopy and chromosome-conformation studies are revising chromosome counts and nuclear organization. Each of four reconstructed Oxyrrhis marina nuclei contained 398–405 physically segmented chromosome bodies, focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) reconstruction of a Prorocentrum cordatum CCMP 1329 nucleus resolved 62 tightly packed chromosome bodies together with an organized nucleolus and clustered nuclear pores, and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) studies in Symbiodiniaceae revealed chromosome-scale scaffolds and transcription-dependent domains. Integrating standardized volume electron microscopy, chromosome-scale genomics, cryo-electron tomography, and biochemical reconstitution should connect molecular packaging to whole-nucleus architecture and improve understanding of ecologically important microbial eukaryotes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon 14662, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan",
    "Laboratory of Sustainable Animal Environment, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Osaki, Miyagi 989-6711, Japan",
    "Department of Convergence Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan 50612, Republic of Korea",
    "Core Research Facility, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Republic of Korea",
    "Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan 50612, Republic of Korea"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jeong Min Chung"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Toshinobu Suzaki"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yasuhiro Fukuda"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Chihong Song"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bcc264kny54qh.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.4014/jmb.2608.08034",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13725142/",
  "id": "bcc264kny54qh",
  "issns": [
    "1017-7825",
    "1738-8872"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.2608.08034",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Microbial Ecology and Diversity"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Molecular and Cellular Microbiology (MCM)"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Review"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224760924",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.jmb.or.kr/journal/download_pdf.php?doi=10.4014/jmb.2608.08034",
  "pmcid": "PMC13725142",
  "pmid": "42958614",
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bcc264kny54qh.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:23:35Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13725142",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.2608.08034"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Molecular Packaging, Liquid-Crystalline Order, and Three-Dimensional Architecture of Dinoflagellate Chromosomes",
  "title_text": "Molecular Packaging, Liquid-Crystalline Order, and Three-Dimensional Architecture of Dinoflagellate Chromosomes",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:21:28Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bcc264kny54qh",
  "venue": "Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology",
  "versions": []
}