Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship

Homologous chromosomes are usually separated at the entrance of meiosis; how they become paired is one of the outstanding mysteries of the meiotic process. Reduction of spacing between homologues makes possible the occurrence of chromosomal interactions leading to homology detection and the formatio...

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Main Author: Tomás Naranjo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Scientifica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.6064/2012/509073
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author Tomás Naranjo
author_facet Tomás Naranjo
author_sort Tomás Naranjo
collection DOAJ
description Homologous chromosomes are usually separated at the entrance of meiosis; how they become paired is one of the outstanding mysteries of the meiotic process. Reduction of spacing between homologues makes possible the occurrence of chromosomal interactions leading to homology detection and the formation of bivalents. In many organisms, telomere-led chromosome movements are generated that bring homologues together. Additional movements produced by chromatin conformational changes at early meiosis may also facilitate homologous contacts. Organisms used in the study of meiosis show a surprising variety of strategies for homology detection. In dipterans, homologous chromosomes remain paired throughout most of development. Pairing seems to arise as a balance between promoter and suppressor pairing genes. Some fungi, plants and animals, use mechanisms based on recombinational interactions. Other mechanisms leading to homology search are recombination-independent and require specialized pairing sites. In the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, each chromosome carries a pairing center consisting of a chromosome-specific DNA-protein complex, and in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the sme2 locus encodes a meiosis-specific non-coding RNA that mediates on homologous recognition. In addition, mismatch correction plays a relevant role, especially in polyploids, which evolved genetic systems that suppress pairing between non-homologous related (homoeologus) chromosomes.
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spelling doaj-art-8ab9ff25636d4db088716e90f3a724252025-02-03T01:13:10ZengWileyScientifica2090-908X2012-01-01201210.6064/2012/509073509073Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic CourtshipTomás Naranjo0Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, SpainHomologous chromosomes are usually separated at the entrance of meiosis; how they become paired is one of the outstanding mysteries of the meiotic process. Reduction of spacing between homologues makes possible the occurrence of chromosomal interactions leading to homology detection and the formation of bivalents. In many organisms, telomere-led chromosome movements are generated that bring homologues together. Additional movements produced by chromatin conformational changes at early meiosis may also facilitate homologous contacts. Organisms used in the study of meiosis show a surprising variety of strategies for homology detection. In dipterans, homologous chromosomes remain paired throughout most of development. Pairing seems to arise as a balance between promoter and suppressor pairing genes. Some fungi, plants and animals, use mechanisms based on recombinational interactions. Other mechanisms leading to homology search are recombination-independent and require specialized pairing sites. In the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, each chromosome carries a pairing center consisting of a chromosome-specific DNA-protein complex, and in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the sme2 locus encodes a meiosis-specific non-coding RNA that mediates on homologous recognition. In addition, mismatch correction plays a relevant role, especially in polyploids, which evolved genetic systems that suppress pairing between non-homologous related (homoeologus) chromosomes.http://dx.doi.org/10.6064/2012/509073
spellingShingle Tomás Naranjo
Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
Scientifica
title Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
title_full Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
title_fullStr Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
title_full_unstemmed Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
title_short Finding the Correct Partner: The Meiotic Courtship
title_sort finding the correct partner the meiotic courtship
url http://dx.doi.org/10.6064/2012/509073
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