-
Article
Open AccessGenetic background impacts the timing of synaptonemal complex breakdown in Drosophila melanogaster
Experiments performed in different genetic backgrounds occasionally exhibit failure in experimental reproducibility. This is a serious issue in Drosophila where there are no standard control stocks. Here, we illu...
-
Article
Combined expansion microscopy with structured illumination microscopy for analyzing protein complexes
Biologists have long been fascinated with the organization and function of intricate protein complexes. Therefore, techniques for precisely imaging protein complexes and the location of proteins within these c...
-
Protocol
Live Imaging of Meiosis I in Late-Stage Drosophila melanogaster Oocytes
Drosophila melanogaster has been studied for a century as a genetic model to understand recombination, chromosome segregation, and the basic rules of inheritance. However, it has only been about 25 years since t...
-
Article
Regulating the construction and demolition of the synaptonemal complex
The synaptonemal complex (SC) connects homologous chromosomes in meiotic prophase, thus promoting genetic exchange and ensuring accurate chromosomal segregation at anaphase. In this Review, the authors discuss...
-
Article
Tetrad analysis in the mouse
Meiotic tetrad analysis is a powerful tool for analyzing all four products of a single meiosis. A new method for tetrad analysis in mammals provides valuable insights into the mechanisms that mediate the excha...
-
Article
RNF212 marks the spot
A new study in mice shows that, during meiosis, the decision to mature a double-strand break into a crossover is controlled by a dosage-sensitive regulator, RNF212. This finding provides insight into the cross...
-
Article
Homologue pairing: getting it right
In Caernorhabditis elegans, homologue pairing is mediated by specialized regions near one end of each chromosome in conjunction with zinc finger (ZnF)-bearing proteins. Families of repeated sequences that are enr...
-
Chapter
Synapsis, Double-Strand Breaks, and Domains of Crossover Control in Drosophila Females
Drosophila is an attractive model system in which powerful tools in genetics and cytology can be used to identify and characterize the genes required for meiotic recombination. This ...
-
Article
Homologous chromosome interactions in meiosis: diversity amidst conservation
One of the unique aspects of meiosis is the pairing and exchange of information between homologous chromosomes.
- ...
-
Article
The spindle-associated transmembrane protein Axs identifies a membranous structure ensheathing the meiotic spindle
Mutations in the aberrant X segragation (Axs) gene disrupt the segregation of achiasmate chromosomes during female meiosis in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that Axs encodes the founding member of an eukaryotic...
-
Article
Playing for half the deck: the molecular biology of meiosis
Meiosis reduces the number of chromosomes carried by a diploid organism by half, partitioning precisely one haploid genome into each gamete. The basic events of meiosis reflect three meiosis-specific processes...
-
Article
Hanging on to your homolog: the roles of pairing, synapsis and recombination in the maintenance of homolog adhesion
Homologous chromosomes initially undergo weak alignments that bring homologous sequences into register during meiosis. These alignments can be facilitated by two types of mechanisms: interstitial homology sear...
-
Article
mei-41 is required for precocious anaphase in Drosophila females
This paper reports on a new role for mei-41 in cell cycle control during meiosis. This function is revealed by the requirement of mei-41 for the precocious anaphase observed in crossover-defective mutants. Normal...
-
Article
The millennium flies in
The complete genomic sequence of the flyDrosophila melanogasterwill soon be available. As a prelude to this, two groups have looked at the amount of work that will have to be done to make biological sense of the ...
-
Article
Spontaneous X chromosome MI and MII nondisjunction events in Drosophila melanogaster oocytes have different recombinational histories
Recent studies of human oocytes have demonstrated an enrichment for distal exchanges among meiosis I (MI) nondisjunction events and for proximal exchanges among meiosis II (MII) events. Our characterization of...
-
Article
A structure-function analysis of NOD, a kinesin-like protein from Drosopbila melanogaster
We have analyzed a collection of 12 mutations in the Drosophila melanogaster nod locus, which encodes a kinesin-like protein involved in female meiotic chromosome segregation. The kinesin-like domain is at the N-...
-
Article
Mechanical basis of meiotic metaphase arrest
CONTROL of the metaphase to anaphase transition is a central component of cell-cycle regulation. Arrest at either metaphase I or II before fertilization is a common component of oogenesis in many organisms1. In D...
-
Chapter
Molecular Analysis of Insect Meiosis and Sex Ratio Distortion
It is arguable that gametogenesis is, if not preeminent, at least among the most critical processes in development. Errors in any other developmental system may result at worst in the genetic death of the indi...
