Prdm9, a major determinant of meiotic recombination hotspots, is not functional in dogs and their wild relatives, wolves and coyotes.

ABSTRACT: Meiotic recombination is a fundamental process needed for the correct segregation of chromosomes during meiosis in sexually reproducing organisms. In humans, 80% of crossovers are estimated to occur at specific areas of the genome called recombination hotspots. Recently, a protein called PRDM9 was identified as a major player in determining the location of genome-wide meiotic recombination hotspots in humans and mice. The origin of this protein seems to be ancient in evolutionary time, as reflected by its fairly conserved structure in lineages that diverged over 700 million years ago. Despite its important role, there are many animal groups in which Prdm9 is absent (e.g. birds, reptiles, amphibians, diptera) and it has been suggested to have disruptive mutations and thus to be a pseudogene

SUBMITTER: Munoz-Fuentes V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3213085 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature