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Meiosis in budding yeast and in multicellular eukaryotes — similarities and differences

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Chromosomes Today

Abstract

For many decades, the investigation of meiotic structures and processes has been almost exclusively a domain of cytology. Meiosis was studied preferably in organisms with large chromosomes and/or easily and abundantly available meiocytes, with favourite systems being monocotyledon pollen mother cells and locust and mammalian spermatocytes. During the last few years, however, we have witnessed the rapidly increasing role of molecular biology, and together with it, the rise of the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as the now best-studied meiotic system. Yeast offers the advantage of elaborate genetics and inducible and highly synchronous meioses, which have allowed a wealth of studies on structural and regulatory genes involved in meiosis. Its initially poor amenability to cytological investigation, owing to the smallness and low degree of condensation of its chromosomes, has been overcome by the development of techniques for electron microscopical analysis of synaptonemal complexes (SCs), and the application of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), immunostaining, and green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagging of nuclear components.

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  1. Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, Vienna, A-1030, Austria

    Josef Loidl

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  1. Istituto di Biologia e Genetica, Via Brecce Bianche, Ancona, 60131, Italy

    Ettore Olmo

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia animale / Centro di Studio per l’Istochimica — CNR, University of Pavia, Piazza Botta 9, Pavia, 27100, Italy

    Carlo Alberto Redi

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Loidl, J. (2000). Meiosis in budding yeast and in multicellular eukaryotes — similarities and differences. In: Olmo, E., Redi, C.A. (eds) Chromosomes Today. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8484-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8484-6_10

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