the underlying foundation for the kinetochore, the centromere, persists throughout the cell cycle. The centromere is comprised of a uniquely specialized region of chromatin and a core complex of approximately 20 constitutively associated proteins. Centromeric chromatin is distinguished by the replacement of histone H3 in the nucleosome with the histone H3 variant centromere protein A (CENP-A) that is thought to epigenetically specify centromere function. We are particularly interested in how centromeric chromatin is assembled and how that chromatin directs the assembly of the centromere and the mitotic kinetochore. We are studying how the specialized centromeric nucleosomes are deposited in centromeric chromatin, how this chromatin is stably propagated through many cell divisions, and how CENP-A chromatin is recognized to build the centromere and mitotic kinetochore.