- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.104.034363v1
169/4/2319 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Email this article to a friend
- 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 Pineda-Krch, M.
- Articles by Redfield, R. J.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Pineda-Krch, M.
- Articles by Redfield, R. J.
Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on January 31, 2005.
Genetics, Vol. 169, 2319-2333, April 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.034363
Persistence and Loss of Meiotic Recombination Hotspots
Mario Pineda-Krch and Rosemary J. Redfield1
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
1 Corresponding author: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
E-mail: redfield{at}interchange.ubc.ca
The contradiction between the long-term persistence of the chromosomal hotspots that initiate meiotic recombination and the self-destructive mechanism by which they act strongly suggests that our understanding of recombination is incomplete. This "hotspot paradox" has been reinforced by the finding that biased gene conversion also removes active hotspots from human sperm. To investigate the requirements for hotspot persistence, we developed a detailed computer simulation model of their activity and its evolutionary consequences. With this model, unopposed hotspot activity could drive strong hotspots from 50% representation to extinction within 70 generations. Although the crossing over that hotspots cause can increase population fitness, this benefit was always too small to slow the loss of hotspots. Hotspots could not be maintained by plausible rates of de novo mutation, nor by crossover interference, which alters the frequency and/or spacing of crossovers. Competition among hotspots for activity-limiting factors also did not prevent their extinction, although the rate of hotspot loss was slowed. Key factors were the probability that the initiating hotspot allele is destroyed and the nonmeiotic contributions hotspots make to fitness. Experimental investigation of these deserves high priority, because until the paradox is resolved all components of the mechanism are open to doubt.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  U. Friberg and W. R. Rice Cut Thy Neighbor: Cyclic Birth and Death of Recombination Hotspots via Genetic Conflict Genetics, August 1, 2008; 179(4): 2229 - 2238. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Padhukasahasram, P. Marjoram, J. D. Wall, C. D. Bustamante, and M. Nordborg Exploring Population Genetic Models With Recombination Using Efficient Forward-Time Simulations Genetics, April 1, 2008; 178(4): 2417 - 2427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. D. Peters A Combination of cis and trans Control Can Solve the Hotspot Conversion Paradox Genetics, March 1, 2008; 178(3): 1579 - 1593. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. R. Dreszer, G. D. Wall, D. Haussler, and K. S. Pollard Biased clustered substitutions in the human genome: The footprints of male-driven biased gene conversion Genome Res., October 1, 2007; 17(10): 1420 - 1430. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Calabrese A population genetics model with recombination hotspots that are heterogeneous across the population PNAS, March 13, 2007; 104(11): 4748 - 4752. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Fearnhead SequenceLDhot: detecting recombination hotspots Bioinformatics, December 15, 2006; 22(24): 3061 - 3066. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. Neumann and A. J. Jeffreys Polymorphism in the activity of human crossover hotspots independent of local DNA sequence variation Hum. Mol. Genet., May 1, 2006; 15(9): 1401 - 1411. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. W. Steiner and G. R. Smith Natural Meiotic Recombination Hot Spots in the Schizosaccharomyces pombe Genome Successfully Predicted from the Simple Sequence Motif M26 Mol. Cell. Biol., October 15, 2005; 25(20): 9054 - 9062. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. J. Jeffreys and R. Neumann Factors influencing recombination frequency and distribution in a human meiotic crossover hotspot Hum. Mol. Genet., August 1, 2005; 14(15): 2277 - 2287. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|