Abstract
Recessive mutations in three autosomal genes, him-1, him-5 and him-8, cause high levels of X chromosome nondisjunction in hermaphrodites of Caenorhabditis elegans, with no comparable effect on autosomal disjunction. Each of the mutants has reduced levels of X chromosome recombination, correlating with the increase in nondisjunction. However, normal or elevated levels of recombination occur at the end of the X chromosome hypothesized to contain the pairing region (the left end), with recombination levels decreasing in regions approaching the right end. Thus, both the number and the distribution of X chromosome exchange events are altered in these mutants. As a result, the genetic map of the X chromosome in the him mutants exhibits a clustering of genes due to reduced recombination, a feature characteristic of the genetic map of the autosomes in non-mutant animals. We hypothesize that these him genes are needed for some processive event that initiates near the left end of the X chromosome.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (980.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Alani E., Padmore R., Kleckner N. Analysis of wild-type and rad50 mutants of yeast suggests an intimate relationship between meiotic chromosome synapsis and recombination. Cell. 1990 May 4;61(3):419–436. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90524-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Baker B. S., Carpenter A. T., Esposito M. S., Esposito R. E., Sandler L. The genetic control of meiosis. Annu Rev Genet. 1976;10:53–134. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.10.120176.000413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Baker B. S., Carpenter A. T. Genetic analysis of sex chromosomal meiotic mutants in Drosophilia melanogaster. Genetics. 1972 Jun;71(2):255–286. doi: 10.1093/genetics/71.2.255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brenner S. The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1974 May;77(1):71–94. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.1.71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Carpenter A. T. Gene conversion, recombination nodules, and the initiation of meiotic synapsis. Bioessays. 1987 May;6(5):232–236. doi: 10.1002/bies.950060510. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Engebrecht J., Hirsch J., Roeder G. S. Meiotic gene conversion and crossing over: their relationship to each other and to chromosome synapsis and segregation. Cell. 1990 Sep 7;62(5):927–937. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90267-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldstein P. The synaptonemal complexes of Caenorhabditis elegans: pachytene karyotype analysis of male and hermaphrodite wild-type and him mutants. Chromosoma. 1982;86(4):577–593. doi: 10.1007/BF00330128. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldway M., Sherman A., Zenvirth D., Arbel T., Simchen G. A short chromosomal region with major roles in yeast chromosome III meiotic disjunction, recombination and double strand breaks. Genetics. 1993 Feb;133(2):159–169. doi: 10.1093/genetics/133.2.159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Greenwald I., Coulson A., Sulston J., Priess J. Correlation of the physical and genetic maps in the lin-12 region of Caenorhabditis elegans. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Mar 11;15(5):2295–2307. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.5.2295. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hartman P. S., Herman R. K. Radiation-sensitive mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1982 Oct;102(2):159–178. doi: 10.1093/genetics/102.2.159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hawley R. S. Chromosomal sites necessary for normal levels of meiotic recombination in Drosophila melanogaster. I. Evidence for and mapping of the sites. Genetics. 1980 Mar;94(3):625–646. doi: 10.1093/genetics/94.3.625. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herman R. K., Kari C. K., Hartman P. S. Dominant X-chromosome nondisjunction mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1982 Nov;102(3):379–400. doi: 10.1093/genetics/102.3.379. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herman R. K., Kari C. K. Recombination between small X chromosome duplications and the X chromosome in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1989 Apr;121(4):723–737. doi: 10.1093/genetics/121.4.723. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herman R. K., Madl J. E., Kari C. K. Duplications in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1979 Jun;92(2):419–435. doi: 10.1093/genetics/92.2.419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hodgkin J., Horvitz H. R., Brenner S. Nondisjunction Mutants of the Nematode CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS. Genetics. 1979 Jan;91(1):67–94. doi: 10.1093/genetics/91.1.67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kemphues K. J., Kusch M., Wolf N. Maternal-effect lethal mutations on linkage group II of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1988 Dec;120(4):977–986. doi: 10.1093/genetics/120.4.977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McKim K. S., Peters K., Rose A. M. Two types of sites required for meiotic chromosome pairing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1993 Jul;134(3):749–768. doi: 10.1093/genetics/134.3.749. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Padmore R., Cao L., Kleckner N. Temporal comparison of recombination and synaptonemal complex formation during meiosis in S. cerevisiae. Cell. 1991 Sep 20;66(6):1239–1256. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90046-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Plenefisch J. D., DeLong L., Meyer B. J. Genes that implement the hermaphrodite mode of dosage compensation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1989 Jan;121(1):57–76. doi: 10.1093/genetics/121.1.57. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rose A. M., Baillie D. L., Curran J. Meiotic pairing behavior of two free duplications of linkage group I in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mol Gen Genet. 1984;195(1-2):52–56. doi: 10.1007/BF00332723. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rose A. M., Baillie D. L. The Effect of Temperature and Parental Age on Recombination and Nondisjunction in CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS. Genetics. 1979 Jun;92(2):409–418. doi: 10.1093/genetics/92.2.409. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sandler L., Lindsley D. L., Nicoletti B., Trippa G. Mutants affecting meiosis in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1968 Nov;60(3):525–558. doi: 10.1093/genetics/60.3.525. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith P. A., King R. C. Genetic control of synaptonemal complexes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1968 Oct;60(2):335–351. doi: 10.1093/genetics/60.2.335. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smithies O., Powers P. A. Gene conversions and their relation to homologous chromosome pairing. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1986 Jan 29;312(1154):291–302. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1986.0008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Symington L. S., Petes T. D. Expansions and contractions of the genetic map relative to the physical map of yeast chromosome III. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Feb;8(2):595–604. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.2.595. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Szauter P. An analysis of regional constraints on exchange in Drosophila melanogaster using recombination-defective meiotic mutants. Genetics. 1984 Jan;106(1):45–71. doi: 10.1093/genetics/106.1.45. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Winston F., Carlson M. Yeast SNF/SWI transcriptional activators and the SPT/SIN chromatin connection. Trends Genet. 1992 Nov;8(11):387–391. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(92)90300-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]