- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text (PDF)
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Sears, D. D.
- Articles by Hieter, P.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Sears, D. D.
- Articles by Hieter, P.
Genetics, Vol 139, 1159-1173, Copyright © 1995
INVESTIGATIONS |
Cis-Acting Determinants Affecting Centromere Function, Sister-Chromatid Cohesion and Reciprocal Recombination During Meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
D. D. Sears, J. H. Hegemann, J. H. Shero and P. Hieter
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
We have employed a system that utilizes homologous pairs of human DNA-derived yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) as marker chromosomes to assess the specific role (s) of conserved centromere DNA elements (CDEI, CDEII and CDEIII) in meiotic chromosome disjunction fidelity. Thirteen different centromere (CEN) mutations were tested for their effects on meiotic centromere function. YACs containing a wild-type CEN DNA sequence segregate with high fidelity in meiosis I (99% normal segregation) and in meiosis II (96% normal segregation). YACs containing a 31-bp deletion mutation in centromere DNA element II (CDEII{delta}31) in either a heterocentric (mutant/wild type), homocentric (mutant/mutant) or monosomic (mutant/--) YAC pair configuration exhibited high levels (16-28%) of precocious sister-chromatid segregation (PSS) and increased levels (1-6%) of nondisjunction meiosis I (NDI). YACs containing this mutation also exhibit high levels (21%) of meiosis II nondisjunction. Interestingly, significant alterations in homolog recombination frequency were observed in the exceptional PSS class of tetrads, suggesting unusual interactions between prematurely separated sister chromatids and their homologous nonsister chromatids. We also have assessed the meiotic segregation effects of rare gene conversion events occurring at sites located immediately adjacent to or distantly from the centromere region. Proximal gene conversion events were associated with extremely high levels (60%) of meiosis I segregation errors (including both PSS and NDI), whereas distal events had no apparent effect. Taken together, our results indicate a critical role for CDEII in meiosis and underscore the importance of maintaining sister-chromatid cohesion for proper recombination in meiotic prophase and for proper disjunction in meiosis I.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  C. J. Bean, P. A. Hunt, E. A. Millie, and T. J. Hassold Analysis of a malsegregating mouse Y chromosome: evidence that the earliest cleavage divisions of the mammalian embryo are non-disjunction-prone Hum. Mol. Genet., April 1, 2001; 10(9): 963 - 972. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. D. Shelby, O. Vafa, and K. F. Sullivan Assembly of CENP-A into Centromeric Chromatin Requires a Cooperative Array of Nucleosomal DNA Contact Sites J. Cell Biol., February 10, 1997; 136(3): 501 - 513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|