Phylogenies of central element proteins reveal the dynamic evolutionary history of the mammalian synaptonemal complex: ancient and recent components.

ABSTRACT: During meiosis, the stable pairing of the homologous chromosomes is mediated by the assembly of the synaptonemal complex (SC). Its tripartite structure is well conserved in Metazoa and consists of two lateral elements (LEs) and a central region (CR) that in turn is formed by several transverse filaments (TFs) and a central element (CE). In a previous article, we have shown that not only the structure, but also the major structural proteins SYCP1 (TFs) and SYCP3 (LEs) of the mammalian SC are conserved in metazoan evolution. In continuation of this work, we now investigated the evolution of the mammalian CE-specific proteins using phylogenetic and biochemical/cytological approaches. In analogy to the observations made for SYCP1 and SYCP3, we did not detect homologs of the mammalian CE protei

SUBMITTER: Fraune J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3813864 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature