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Caenorhabditis elegans Ce-rdh-1/rad-51 functions after double-strand break formation of meiotic recombination

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Abstract

During meiotic prophase 1, homologous recombination is accompanied by dynamic chromosomal changes. The Ce-rdh-1/rad-51 gene is the only bacterial recA-like gene in the nematode C. elegans genome. Upon depletion of Ce-rdh-1/rad-51 using the RNA interference method, abnormal ‘kinked’ chromosomes can be observed in mature oocytes at diakinesis, whereas synapsis between homologous chromosomes during the pachytene stage is normal. Following fertilization, Ce-rdh-1/rad-51-depleted embryos die early in embryogenesis, and their nuclei exhibit abnormal chromosome fragments and bridges. From epistasis analyses with Ce-spo-11 defective mutant and ionizing radiation, it is indicated that Ce-rdh-1/rad-51 functions after double-strand break (DSB) formation of meiotic recombination. Under the Ce-chk-2 defective condition, whose meiotic synapsis and meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes are completely inhibited, the Ce-rdh-1/rad51 is normally expressed in the gonadal cells. Moreover, it seems that exogenous DSBs in the Ce-chk-2 defective nuclei at the pachytene stage can be repaired between sister chromatids in a Ce-rdh-1/rad-51-dependent manner. These results indicate that Ce-rdh-1/rad51 functions after both endogenous and exogenous DSB formation during meiosis, but not as ‘pairing centers’ for meiotic synapsis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

    Takako Takanami, Akiyuki Mori, Hideyuki Takahashi & Atsushi Higashitani

  2. School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, 19-1 Uchimaru, Morioka, 020-8505, Japan

    Takako Takanami & Saburo Horiuchi

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  1. Takako Takanami
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  2. Akiyuki Mori
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  3. Hideyuki Takahashi
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  4. Saburo Horiuchi
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  5. Atsushi Higashitani
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Correspondence to Atsushi Higashitani.

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Takanami, T., Mori, A., Takahashi, H. et al. Caenorhabditis elegans Ce-rdh-1/rad-51 functions after double-strand break formation of meiotic recombination. Chromosome Res 11, 125–135 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022863814686

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