TY - JOUR
T1 - Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells lacking the homologous pairing protein p175SEP1 arrest at pachytene during meiotic prophase
AU - Bähler, Jürg
AU - Hagens, Gerrit
AU - Holzinger, Gudrun
AU - Scherthan, Harry
AU - Heyer, Wolf Dietrich
PY - 1994/4
Y1 - 1994/4
N2 - Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells containing null mutations in the SEP1 gene, which encodes the homologous pairing and strand exchange protein p175SEP1 enter pachytene with a delay. They arrest uniformly at this stage of meiotic prophase, probably revealing a checkpoint in the transition from pachytene to meiosis I. At the arrest point, the cells remain largely viable and are cytologically characterized by the duplicated but unseparated spindle pole bodies of equal size and by the persistence of the synaptonemal complex, a cytological marker for pachytene. In addition, fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that in arrested mutant cells maximal chromatin condensation and normal homolog pairing is achieved, typical for pachytene in wild type. A hallmark of meiosis is the high level of homologous recombination, which was analyzed both genetically and physically. Formation and processing of the double-strand break intermediate in meiotic recombination is achieved prior to arrest. Physical intragenic (conversion) and intergenic (crossover) products are formed just prior to, or directly at, the arrest point. Structural deficits in synaptonemal complex morphology, failure to separate spindle pole bodies, and/or defects in prophase DNA metabolism might be responsible for triggering the observed arrest. The pachytene arrest in sep1 cells is likely to be regulatory, but is clearly different from the RAD9 checkpoint in meiotic prophase, which occurs prior to the pachytene stage.
AB - Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells containing null mutations in the SEP1 gene, which encodes the homologous pairing and strand exchange protein p175SEP1 enter pachytene with a delay. They arrest uniformly at this stage of meiotic prophase, probably revealing a checkpoint in the transition from pachytene to meiosis I. At the arrest point, the cells remain largely viable and are cytologically characterized by the duplicated but unseparated spindle pole bodies of equal size and by the persistence of the synaptonemal complex, a cytological marker for pachytene. In addition, fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that in arrested mutant cells maximal chromatin condensation and normal homolog pairing is achieved, typical for pachytene in wild type. A hallmark of meiosis is the high level of homologous recombination, which was analyzed both genetically and physically. Formation and processing of the double-strand break intermediate in meiotic recombination is achieved prior to arrest. Physical intragenic (conversion) and intergenic (crossover) products are formed just prior to, or directly at, the arrest point. Structural deficits in synaptonemal complex morphology, failure to separate spindle pole bodies, and/or defects in prophase DNA metabolism might be responsible for triggering the observed arrest. The pachytene arrest in sep1 cells is likely to be regulatory, but is clearly different from the RAD9 checkpoint in meiotic prophase, which occurs prior to the pachytene stage.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028230702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028230702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/BF00352322
DO - 10.1007/BF00352322
M3 - Article
C2 - 8055710
AN - SCOPUS:0028230702
VL - 103
SP - 129
EP - 141
JO - Chromosoma
JF - Chromosoma
SN - 0009-5915
IS - 2
ER -