RESUMO
Faithful chromosome segregation during meiosis I depends upon the formation of connections between homologous chromosomes. Crossovers between homologs connect the partners, allowing them to attach to the meiotic spindle as a unit, such that they migrate away from one another at anaphase I. Homologous partners also become connected by pairing of their centromeres in meiotic prophase. This centromere pairing can promote proper segregation at anaphase I of partners that have failed to become joined by a crossover. Centromere pairing is mediated by synaptonemal complex (SC) proteins that persist at the centromere when the SC disassembles. Here, using mouse spermatocyte and yeast model systems, we tested the role of shugoshin in promoting meiotic centromere pairing by protecting centromeric synaptonemal components from disassembly. The results show that shugoshin protects the centromeric SC in meiotic prophase and, in anaphase, promotes the proper segregation of partner chromosomes that are not linked by a crossover.
Assuntos
Anáfase/fisiologia , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/metabolismo , Centrômero/metabolismo , Segregação de Cromossomos/fisiologia , Prófase/fisiologia , Espermatócitos/metabolismo , Animais , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Centrômero/genética , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Espermatócitos/citologia , Fuso Acromático/genética , Fuso Acromático/metabolismo , Complexo Sinaptonêmico/genética , Complexo Sinaptonêmico/metabolismoRESUMO
In meiosis I, homologous chromosomes segregate away from each other-the first of two rounds of chromosome segregation that allow the formation of haploid gametes. In prophase I, homologous partners become joined along their length by the synaptonemal complex (SC) and crossovers form between the homologs to generate links called chiasmata. The chiasmata allow the homologs to act as a single unit, called a bivalent, as the chromosomes attach to the microtubules that will ultimately pull them away from each other at anaphase I. Recent studies, in several organisms, have shown that when the SC disassembles at the end of prophase, residual SC proteins remain at the homologous centromeres providing an additional link between the homologs. In budding yeast, this centromere pairing is correlated with improved segregation of the paired partners in anaphase. However, the causal relationship of prophase centromere pairing and subsequent disjunction in anaphase has been difficult to demonstrate as has been the relationship between SC assembly and the assembly of the centromere pairing apparatus. Here, a series of in-frame deletion mutants of the SC component Zip1 were used to address these questions. The identification of a separation-of-function allele that disrupts centromere pairing, but not SC assembly, has made it possible to demonstrate that centromere pairing and SC assembly have mechanistically distinct features and that the centromere pairing function of Zip1 drives disjunction of the paired partners in anaphase I.
Assuntos
Centrômero/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomycetales/genética , Alelos , Anáfase/genética , Pareamento Cromossômico , Segregação de Cromossomos , Meiose , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Recombinação Genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Saccharomycetales/metabolismo , Complexo Sinaptonêmico/metabolismoRESUMO
In meiosis I, chromosomes become paired with their homologous partners and then are pulled toward opposite poles of the spindle. In the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in early meiotic prophase, centromeres are observed to associate in pairs in a homology-independent manner; a process called centromere coupling. Later, as homologous chromosomes align, their centromeres associate in a process called centromere pairing. The synaptonemal complex protein Zip1 is necessary for both types of centromere association. We aimed to test the role of centromere coupling in modulating recombination at centromeres, and to test whether the two types of centromere associations depend upon the same sets of genes. The zip1-S75E mutation, which blocks centromere coupling but no other known functions of Zip1, was used to show that in the absence of centromere coupling, centromere-proximal recombination was unchanged. Further, this mutation did not diminish centromere pairing, demonstrating that these two processes have different genetic requirements. In addition, we tested other synaptonemal complex components, Ecm11 and Zip4, for their contributions to centromere pairing. ECM11 was dispensable for centromere pairing and segregation of achiasmate partner chromosomes; while ZIP4 was not required for centromere pairing during pachytene, but was required for proper segregation of achiasmate chromosomes. These findings help differentiate the two mechanisms that allow centromeres to interact in meiotic prophase, and illustrate that centromere pairing, which was previously shown to be necessary to ensure disjunction of achiasmate chromosomes, is not sufficient for ensuring their disjunction.
Assuntos
Centrômero/genética , Pareamento Cromossômico , Meiose , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Complexo Sinaptonêmico/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/metabolismo , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/genética , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Recombinação Genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/citologia , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Complexo Sinaptonêmico/metabolismoRESUMO
In meiosis, homologous chromosomes face the obstacle of finding, holding onto and segregating away from their partner chromosome. There is increasing evidence, in a diverse range of organisms, that centromere-centromere interactions that occur in late prophase are an important mechanism in ensuring segregation fidelity. Centromere pairing appears to initiate when homologous chromosomes synapse in meiotic prophase. Structural proteins of the synaptonemal complex have been shown to help mediate centromere pairing, but how the structure that maintains centromere pairing differs from the structure of the synaptonemal complex along the chromosomal arms remains unknown. When the synaptonemal complex proteins disassemble from the chromosome arms in late prophase, some of these synaptonemal complex components persist at the centromeres. In yeast and Drosophila these centromere-pairing behaviors promote the proper segregation of chromosome partners that have failed to become linked by chiasmata. Recent studies of mouse spermatocytes have described centromere pairing behaviors that are similar in several respects to what has been described in the fly and yeast systems. In humans, chromosomes that fail to experience crossovers in meiosis are error-prone and are a major source of aneuploidy. The finding that centromere pairing is a conserved phenomenon raises the possibility that it may play a role in promoting the segregation fidelity of non-exchange chromosome pairs in humans.