The Chromodomain Protein MRG-1 Facilitates SC-Independent Homologous Pairing during Meiosis in Caenorhabditis elegans

Homologous chromosome pairing is a prerequisite to establish physical linkage between homologs, which is critical for faithful chromosome segregation during meiosis I. The establishment of pairing is genetically separable from subsequent synapsis, defined as stabilization of pairing by the synaptone...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental cell 2011-12, Vol.21 (6), p.1092-1103
Main Authors: Dombecki, Carolyn R., Chiang, Ason C.Y., Kang, Hyun-Joo, Bilgir, Ceyda, Stefanski, Nicholas A., Neva, Bryan J., Klerkx, Elke P.F., Nabeshima, Kentaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Genetically Modified
Biological and medical sciences
Caenorhabditis elegans - cytology
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism
Cell cycle, cell proliferation
Cell differentiation, maturation, development, hematopoiesis
Cell physiology
Chromosome Pairing - genetics
Chromosome Pairing - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes, Helminth
Meiosis - genetics
Meiosis - physiology
Molecular and cellular biology
Mutation
Synaptonemal Complex - genetics
Synaptonemal Complex - metabolism
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Summary:Homologous chromosome pairing is a prerequisite to establish physical linkage between homologs, which is critical for faithful chromosome segregation during meiosis I. The establishment of pairing is genetically separable from subsequent synapsis, defined as stabilization of pairing by the synaptonemal complex (SC). The underlying mechanism of presynaptic pairing is poorly understood. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a unique cis-acting element, the pairing center (PC), is essential for presynaptic pairing; however, it is not known whether and how the remainder of the chromosome contributes to presynaptic pairing. Here we report direct evidence for presynaptic pairing activity intrinsic to non-PC regions, which is facilitated by a conserved chromodomain protein, MRG-1. In mrg-1 loss-of-function mutants, pairing is compromised specifically in non-PC regions, leading to nonhomologous SC assembly. Our data support a model in which presynaptic alignment in non-PC regions collaborates with initial PC pairing to ensure correct homologous synapsis. [Display omitted] ► MRG-1 facilitates pairing at the non-pairing center (PC) loci of autosomes ► Presynaptic alignment along the non-PC regions is supported by MRG-1 ► Homologous synapsis at the PC does not always lead to full synapsis in mrg-1 ► mrg-1 mutant exhibits nonhomologous synapsis specifically at the non-PC regions
ISSN:1534-5807
1878-1551
DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.09.019