Maintenance of interphase chromosome compaction and homolog pairing in Drosophila is regulated by the condensin cap-h2 and its partner Mrg15.

Dynamic regulation of chromosome structure and organization is critical for fundamental cellular processes such as gene expression and chromosome segregation. Condensins are conserved chromosome-associated proteins that regulate a variety of chromosome dynamics, including axial shortening, lateral compaction, and homolog pairing. However, how the in vivo activities of condensins are regulated and how functional interactors target condensins to chromatin are not well understood.

Chromosome alignment and transvection are antagonized by condensin II.

Polytene chromosome structure is a characteristic of some polyploid cells where several to thousands of chromatids are closely associated with perfect alignment of homologous DNA sequences. Here, we show that Drosophila condensin II promotes disassembly of polytene structure into chromosomal components. Condensin II also negatively regulates transvection, a process whereby certain alleles are influenced transcriptionally via interallelic physical associations.