Figure 1. The double-strand break repair model of meiotic recombination, depicting interactions among proteins included in this study.

The names of meiosis-specific proteins are highlighted in green. Exact stoichiometry is not implied. In meiosis I, cohesins bind to sister chromatids (A), after which double-strand DNA breaks are made by Spo11 (accessory proteins not shown) and the axial elements (Hop1) of the synaptonemal complex are formed (B). Double strand break repair is initiated (coupled with (B) in S. cerevisiae) and Hop1 forms lateral elements of the synaptonemal complex (C). Strand exchange proteins are attracted to the double-strand break (accessory proteins not shown) (D). The resulting heteroduplex (E) may be resolved by crossovers, which utilize meiosis-specific proteins (F), or by gene conversion, which does not (G, proteins not shown). This model is based primarily upon details from S. cerevisiae, but includes details from mammals for Msh4 and Msh5, and speculates on the role of Drosophila Mei-9 (Rad1) in (F) as reviewed by [54], [97]–[100]. Table 1 gives additional details and references.