Abstract
Meiosis is the special division that produces haploid gametes, such as sperm and eggs. It involves a complex series of events that integrate large structural changes at the chromosome scale with fine regulation of recombination events in localized regions. To evaluate the complexity of these processes, the meiosis field covers a variety of disciplines and model organisms, making it an exciting and rapidly changing area of research. The field as a whole highlights both the conserved aspects of meiosis, as well as the marked diversity of the means taken to ensure that, ultimately, gametes will contain a balanced number of chromosomes and genetic diversity will have been produced. Studying meiosis is also critically important for the improvement of our human condition as errors of meiosis are a leading cause of infertility, miscarriage, and developmental disabilities. Finally, the complex chromosome behavior of meiosis is a genetically tractable paradigm, the study of which improves our understanding of many fundamental cellular processes including DNA repair, genome stability, cancer etiology, chromatin structure, and chromosome dynamics.
This special issue on meiosis contains twenty-two papers, of which five are in-depth reviews that complement and put in context the experimental data presented in the seventeen original research articles. The content of this issue illustrates the diversity of topics covered by researchers in the field, ranging from the effects of environment and external factors on the success of meiosis, the cell cycle actors that control the meiotic divisions, the mechanism of chromosome segregation, and the mechanisms that ensure proper homologous chromosome pairing, recombination, and synapsis. Multiple organisms are covered. Also evident is the fact that more and more studies use multicellular organisms as a model system, in large part due to the increased availability of tools that were previously restricted to studies in budding and fission yeasts.
References
Baudat F, de Massy B, Veyrunes F (2019) Sex chromosome quadrivalents in oocytes of the African pygmy mouse Mus minutoides that harbors non-conventional sex chromosomes. Chromosoma
Cahoon CK, Libuda DE (2019) Leagues of their own: sexually dimorphic features of meiotic prophase I. Chromosoma
Dunne OM, Davies OR (2019) Molecular structure of human synaptonemal complex protein SYCE1. Chromosoma
Eyster C, Chuong HH, Lee CY, Pezza RJ, Dawson D (2019) The pericentromeric heterochromatin of homologous chromosomes remains associated after centromere pairing dissolves in mouse spermatocyte meiosis. Chromosoma
Felipe-Medina, N., Gomez, H.L., Condezo, Y.B., Sanchez-Martin, M., Barbero, J.L., Ramos, I., Llano, E., and Pendas, A.M. (2019). Ubiquitin-specific protease 26 (USP26) is not essential for mouse gametogenesis and fertility. Chromosoma
Herruzo E, Santos B, Freire R, Carballo JA, San-Segundo PA (2019) Characterization of Pch2 localization determinants reveals a nucleolar-independent role in the meiotic recombination checkpoint. Chromosoma
Hunt LJ, Ahmed EA, Kaur H, Ahuja JS, Hulme L, Chou TC, Lichten M, Goldman ASH (2019) S. cerevisiae Srs2 helicase ensures normal recombination intermediate metabolism during meiosis and prevents accumulation of Rad51 aggregates. Chromosoma
Karasu ME, Keeney S (2019) Cyclin B3 is dispensable for mouse spermatogenesis. Chromosoma
Li D, Roca M, Yuecel R, Lorenz A (2019) Immediate visualization of recombination events and chromosome segregation defects in fission yeast meiosis. Chromosoma
Link J, Jantsch V (2019) Meiotic chromosomes in motion: a perspective from Mus musculus and Caenorhabditis elegans. Chromosoma
Pacheco S, Maldonado-Linares A, Garcia-Caldes M, Roig I (2019) ATR function is indispensable to allow proper mammalian follicle development. Chromosoma
Perkins AT, Greig MM, Sontakke AA, Peloquin AS, McPeek MA, Bickel SE (2019) Increased levels of superoxide dismutase suppress meiotic segregation errors in aging oocytes. Chromosoma
Pineda-Santaella A, Fernandez-Alvarez A (2019) Spindle assembly without spindle pole body insertion into the nuclear envelope in fission yeast meiosis. Chromosoma
Plowman R, Singh N, Tromer EC, Payan A, Duro E, Spanos C, Rappsilber J, Snel B, Kops G, Corbett KD et al (2019) The molecular basis of monopolin recruitment to the kinetochore. Chromosoma
Pyatnitskaya A, Borde V, De Muyt A (2019) Crossing and zipping: molecular duties of the ZMM proteins in meiosis. Chromosoma
Ribagorda M, Berrios S, Solano E, Ayarza E, Martin-Ruiz M, Gil-Fernandez A, Parra MT, Viera A, Rufas JS, Capanna E et al (2019) Meiotic behavior of a complex hexavalent in heterozygous mice for Robertsonian translocations: insights for synapsis dynamics. Chromosoma 128:149–163
Sasanuma H, Sakurai HSM, Furihata Y, Challa K, Palmer L, Gasser SM, Shinohara M, Shinohara A (2019) Srs2 helicase prevents the formation of toxic DNA damage during late prophase I of yeast meiosis. Chromosoma
Sciurano RB, Pigozzi MI, Benavente R (2019) Disassembly of the synaptonemal complex in chicken oocytes analyzed by super-resolution microscopy. Chromosoma
Underwood CJ, Choi K (2019) Heterogeneous transposable elements as silencers, enhancers and targets of meiotic recombination. Chromosoma
Vazquez BN, Blengini CS, Hernandez Y, Serrano L, Schindler K (2019) SIRT7 promotes chromosome synapsis during prophase I of female meiosis. Chromosoma
Wasserzug-Pash P, Klutstein M (2019) Epigenetic changes in mammalian gametes throughout their lifetime: the four seasons metaphor. Chromosoma
Yun Y, Wei Z, Hunter N (2019) Maternal obesity enhances oocyte chromosome abnormalities associated with aging. Chromosoma
Acknowledgments
We thank the researchers in the meiosis field for submitting their excellent work. F. Cole acknowledges support from the National Institutes of Health (DP2HD087943 and R01HD098129). V. Borde acknowledges support from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-15-CE11-0011), the CNRS and Institut Curie.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cole, F., Borde, V. Special issue on “recent advances in meiosis from DNA replication to chromosome segregation”. Chromosoma 128, 177–180 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-019-00726-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-019-00726-4