Abstract
Meiosis is critically different from mitosis in that during meiosis, pairing and segregation of homologous chromosomes occur. During meiosis, the morphology of sister chromatids changes drastically, forming a prominent axial structure in the synaptonemal complex. The meiosis-specific cohesin complex plays a central role in the regulation of the processes required for recombination. In particular, the Rec8 subunit of the meiotic cohesin complex, which is conserved in a wide range of eukaryotes, has been analyzed for its function in modulating chromosomal architecture during the pairing and recombination of homologous chromosomes in meiosis. Here, we review the current understanding of Rec8 cohesin as a structural platform for meiotic chromosomes.
Highlights
Even in in asynaptic organisms, Rec8Rec8 cohesin forms an an axial lateral element, which is essential for homologous recomaxial structure structureresembling resemblingthe the lateral element, which is essential for homologous recombination during meiosis
The mitotic cohesin complex consists of four core subunits, two structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) family proteins, Smc1 and Smc3, and two non-SMC kleisin subunits, Scc1 and Scc3
In S. pombe, LinE formation-defective mutants, but not rec8 mutants, maintain structural properties of chromatin to withstand oscillatory nuclear movement during meiotic prophase [54,96]. These results strongly suggest that Rec8 cohesin-induced chromosome structure is independent of the axial elements
Summary
Cohesin: A Structural Platform for Shaping the Meiotic Chromosomes. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cohesin is a highly conserved protein complex that establishes cohesion between sister chromatids after DNA replication, and is essential for proper chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis [1,2]. Homologous pairing occurs in asynaptic organisms, such of 15 as the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which does not form a typical SC [12,13,14]. Even in in asynaptic organisms, Rec8Rec cohesin forms an an axial lateral element, which is essential for homologous recomaxial structure structureresembling resemblingthe the lateral element, which is essential for homologous recombination during meiosis [26,27,28,29,30,31,32]. This review highlights the role of Rec cohesin in meiosis, which is common in both SC-forming and asynaptic organisms
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