Caenorhabditis elegans histone methyltransferase MET-2 shields the male X chromosome from checkpoint machinery and mediates meiotic sex chromosome inactivation.

ABSTRACT: Meiosis is a specialized form of cellular division that results in the precise halving of the genome to produce gametes for sexual reproduction. Checkpoints function during meiosis to detect errors and subsequently to activate a signaling cascade that prevents the formation of aneuploid gametes. Indeed, asynapsis of a homologous chromosome pair elicits a checkpoint response that can in turn trigger germline apoptosis. In a heterogametic germ line, however, sex chromosomes proceed through meiosis with unsynapsed regions and are not recognized by checkpoint machinery. We conducted a directed RNAi screen in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify regulatory factors that prevent recognition of heteromorphic sex chromosomes as unpaired and uncovered a role for the SET domain histone H3 lysine 9 hist

SUBMITTER: Checchi PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3164706 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature