- page settings
- showhide sidebar
- showhide empty fields
- layout
- (too narrow)
- open all
- close all
- Page Content
- Overview
- External Links
- History
- Referenced
- Tools
- Tree Display
- My WormBase
- My Favorites
- My Library
- Recent Activity
- Comments (0)
history logging is off
Tree Display
My Favorites
My Library
Comments on Wynne, David et al. (2009) International Worm Meeting "Motor-Driven Motion Associated with Meiotic Chromosome Pairing." (0)
Overview
Wynne, David, Carlton, Pete, & Dernburg, Abby (2009). Motor-Driven Motion Associated with Meiotic Chromosome Pairing presented in International Worm Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.
Accurate segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis is necessary for the faithful transmission of the genome from parent to progeny. To segregate properly, homologs must first undergo pairing, synapsis, and recombination. The mechanism of homologous chromosome pairing remains a major mystery of meiosis. In C. elegans, as in many other eukaryotes, pairing is accompanied by a global rearrangement of chromosomes. We have found that this rearrangement is driven through the association of special chromosome regions known as Pairing Centers (PC) with nuclear envelope proteins and cytoskeletal motors (Phillips et al. 2005, Sato A. unpublished). Using fluorescent markers for nuclear envelope attachment sites and Pairing Centers, we are analyzing chromosome dynamics through real-time imaging and quantitative motion tracking. Our results reveal a dramatic increase in chromosome motion at the onset of chromosome pairing that persists after homologous loci are paired. We show that this increased mobility is dependent on the conserved cell cycle checkpoint kinase, CHK-2, and that motion slows following knockdown of cytoplasmic dynein. Our data supports a model in which homolog pairing is promoted by a small number of fast, motor-driven movements that augment the smaller, Brownian motions seen prior to meiosis. The observation that fast motions persist well after pairing is completed suggests additional roles in chromosome synapsis or recombination.