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Relationship between incomplete synapsis and chiasma localization

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Abstract

One of the subjects within the meiotic field that has been actively investigated in the recent years is the temporal and functional relationships between meiotic recombination, cohesin loading and synaptonemal complex (SC) assembly. Although the study of meiotic mutants has shed some light, many questions remain to be answered. Here, we have studied this topic in the orthopteran Paratettix meridionalis, a species with telocentric chromosomes, which shows two unusual cytological features: pairing and synapsis of homologues during prophase I are restricted to the non-centromeric distal regions and extremely distal chiasma localization in metaphase I bivalents. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between both phenomena, we have used: (1) a spreading technique for following the ultrastructure of SC assembly and (2) immunofluorescence for SMC3 and SMC1α cohesin subunits, which mark the development of the axial element (a SC component); the histone γ-H2AX, which mostly labels the sites of double-strand breaks; and the recombinase RAD51. Spermatocytes showed conspicuous polarization of both the maturation of cohesin axes and the initiation of meiotic recombination events. Consequently, it is proposed that maturation of cohesin axes, which begins in very distal regions, could drive the latter loading of recombinases to such regions. This restricted distribution of recombination events along homologues would finally be responsible for the incomplete pairing and synapsis observed in all autosomes of the complement and hence for chiasma localization.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Carlos García de la Verga for his valuable criticisms and corrections on the manuscript and to the Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural (Comunidad de Castilla-La Mancha; España) for producing the authorization for sampling of animals. Dr. Jorge Iñiguez and Dr. David Lluciá Pomares helped in the geographic location of populations, Dr. Raimundo Outerelo made the taxonomical identification of the specimens and Dr. José Luis Barbero generously gave the antibodies against the cohesins SMC3 and SMC1α. This work was supported by grants BFU2005-02431 and BFU2006–06655 from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Alberto Viera & Julio S. Rufas

  2. Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Luis Santos

  3. Unidad de Biología Celular, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Edificio de Ciencias Biológicas, C/ Darwin 2, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Julio S. Rufas

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  1. Alberto Viera
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Correspondence to Julio S. Rufas.

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Communicated by S. Keeney

All authors contributed equally to this work.

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Supplementary Figure 1

γ-H2AX staining in L. migratoria during prophase I. Double immunolabelling of SMC3 (red) and γ-H2AX (blue) onto spread (A–E and G) or squashed (F–F‴, H–H‴) spermatocytes of L. migratoria. When it is clearly discernible, the position of the X chromosome (X) is indicated (C–H‴). (A) Early leptotene: SMC3 axes are present in a dotted-like fashion, and there is no labelling of γ-H2AX. (B) Late leptotene: linear filaments of SMC3 are spread in the nucleus as well as a bunch of γ-H2AX labels. (C–E) Zygotene: SMC3 axes start progressive pairing and form thicker filaments. The massive γ-H2AX labelling observed in early zygotene (C) becomes restricted to the regions showing unpaired SMC3 axes as well as the single X chromosome in mid and late zygotene (D and E). (F–F‴) Late zygotene: γ-H2AX is only associated with the autosomal SMC3 axes which remain unpaired and to the single X chromosome axis. These regions are magnified in F‴. (G) Mid pachytene: γ-H2AX decorates the unpaired cohesin axis of the sex chromosome, and a reduced number of foci on the paired SMC axes of autosomes. (H-H‴) An identical pattern of γ-H2AX foci distribution on synapsed autosomes is observed in squashed preparations. However, the sex chromosome is not labelled, possibly as a result of steric interactions between the two primary antibodies. Bar represents 10 µm (GIF 178 kb)

High resolution image file (TIF 5362 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

RAD51 loading in L. migratoria during prophase I. Double immunolabelling of SMC3 (red) and RAD51 (green) onto spread L. migratoria spermatocytes. The position of the single X chromosome is indicated (X) when it is discernible (C and D). (A) Late leptotene: RAD51 foci are observable on the trajectories of unpaired SMC3 axes. (B and C) Zygotene: the number of RAD51 foci is dramatically increased and are located on both paired and unpaired SMC3 axes. (D) Mid pachytene: a discrete number of RAD51 foci are associated to the paired cohesin axes. The presence of some RAD51 foci that do not locate on the cohesin axes from zygotene onwards is noteworthy. This situation is not observed in squashed spermatocytes, but it is a common feature of recombinases in spread preparations. Therefore, the previously reported dynamic pattern of RAD51 in grasshopper spermatocytes is also maintained with spreading techniques. Bar represents 10 µm (GIF 77 kb)

High resolution image file (TIF 2691 kb)

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Viera, A., Santos, J.L. & Rufas, J.S. Relationship between incomplete synapsis and chiasma localization. Chromosoma 118, 377–389 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-009-0204-x

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