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S. pombe linear elements: the modest cousins of synaptonemal complexes

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Abstract

Synaptonemal complexes (SCs) are not formed during meiotic prophase in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Instead, so-called linear elements (LinEs) are formed at the corresponding stages. LinEs are remarkable in that their number does not correspond to the number of chromosomes or bivalents and that the changes in their organisation during prophase do not evidently reflect the pairing of chromosomes. Yet, LinEs are necessary for full meiotic pairing levels and for meiotic recombination. In this review, the composition of LinEs, their evolutionary relationship to SCs and their possible functions are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Axial elements are the cores of meiotic chromosomes, which, once connected by the transversal filaments, are called lateral elements.

  2. Bähler et al. (1993) introduced the classification I, IIa and IIb for threads, networks and bundles, respectively, and a class III for late-appearing long threads. Lorenz et al. (2004) further divided class I into class Ia and class Ib to discriminate dot-shaped and elongated LinEs. For simplicity, this classification is not followed here.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Anna Estreicher, Yasushi Hiraoka, Jürg Kohli, Alexander Lorenz and Ramsay McFarlane for communicating unpublished results, and I wish to thank Alexander Lorenz and Maria Siomos for critical reading and useful comments on the manuscript. Support by the Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna, is gratefully acknowledged. Work in my lab is supported by grants from the Austrian Science Fund.

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Communicated by R. Benavente

The synaptonemal complex – 50 years

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Loidl, J. S. pombe linear elements: the modest cousins of synaptonemal complexes. Chromosoma 115, 260–271 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-006-0047-7

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