Journal article
Cytological studies of human meiosis: sex-specific differences in recombination originate at, or prior to, establishment of double-strand breaks
PloS one, Vol.8(12), pp.e85075-e85075
2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102152
PMCID: PMC3869931
PMID: 24376867
Abstract
Meiotic recombination is sexually dimorphic in most mammalian species, including humans, but the basis for the male:female differences remains unclear. In the present study, we used cytological methodology to directly compare recombination levels between human males and females, and to examine possible sex-specific differences in upstream events of double-strand break (DSB) formation and synaptic initiation. Specifically, we utilized the DNA mismatch repair protein MLH1 as a marker of recombination events, the RecA homologue RAD51 as a surrogate for DSBs, and the synaptonemal complex proteins SYCP3 and/or SYCP1 to examine synapsis between homologs. Consistent with linkage studies, genome-wide recombination levels were higher in females than in males, and the placement of exchanges varied between the sexes. Subsequent analyses of DSBs and synaptic initiation sites indicated similar male:female differences, providing strong evidence that sex-specific differences in recombination rates are established at or before the formation of meiotic DSBs. We then asked whether these differences might be linked to variation in the organization of the meiotic axis and/or axis-associated DNA and, indeed, we observed striking male:female differences in synaptonemal complex (SC) length and DNA loop size. Taken together, our observations suggest that sex specific differences in recombination in humans may derive from chromatin differences established prior to the onset of the recombination pathway.
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Details
- Title
- Cytological studies of human meiosis: sex-specific differences in recombination originate at, or prior to, establishment of double-strand breaks
- Creators
- Jennifer R Gruhn - School of Molecular Biosciences and Center for Reproductive Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of AmericaCarmen Rubio - Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Unit, Iviomics, Paterna, Valencia, SpainKarl W Broman - Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of AmericaPatricia A Hunt - School of Molecular Biosciences and Center for Reproductive Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of AmericaTerry Hassold - School of Molecular Biosciences and Center for Reproductive Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.8(12), pp.e85075-e85075
- Academic Unit
- Molecular Biosciences, School of
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- R01 ES013527 / NIEHS NIH HHS T32 GM083864 / NIGMS NIH HHS GM083864 / NIGMS NIH HHS ES013527 / NIEHS NIH HHS HD21341 / NICHD NIH HHS R56 ES013527 / NIEHS NIH HHS R01 HD021341 / NICHD NIH HHS R37 HD021341 / NICHD NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900546547301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article