Repair of Meiotic DNA Breaks and Homolog Pairing in Mouse Meiosis Requires a Minichromosome Maintenance (MCM) Paralog.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian Mcm-domain containing 2 (Mcmdc2) gene encodes a protein of unknown function that is homologous to the minichromosome maintenance family of DNA replication licensing and helicase factors. Drosophila melanogaster contains two separate genes, the Mei-MCMs, which appear to have arisen from a single ancestral Mcmdc2 gene. The Mei-MCMs are involved in promoting meiotic crossovers by blocking the anticrossover activity of BLM helicase, a function presumably performed by MSH4 and MSH5 in metazoans. Here, we report that MCMDC2-deficient mice of both sexes are viable but sterile. Males fail to produce spermatozoa, and formation of primordial follicles is disrupted in females. Histology and immunocytological analyses of mutant testes revealed that meiosis is arrested in prophase I, and

SUBMITTER: McNairn AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5289834 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature