PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dorota Rousova
AU  - Saskia K. Funk
AU  - Heidi Reichle
AU  - John R. Weir
TI  - Mer2 binds directly to both nucleosomes and axial proteins as the keystone of meiotic recombination
AID  - 10.1101/2020.07.30.228908
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.07.30.228908
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/31/2020.07.30.228908.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/31/2020.07.30.228908.full
AB  - One of the defining features of sexual reproduction is the recombination events that take place during meiosis I. Recombination is both evolutionarily advantageous, but also mechanistically necessary to form the crossovers that link homologous chromosomes. Meiotic recombination is initiated through the placement of programmed double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) mediated by the protein Spo11. The timing, number, and physical placement of DSBs are carefully controlled through a variety of protein machinery. Previous work has implicated Mer2(IHO1 in mammals) to be involved in both the placement of breaks, and their timing. In this study we use a combination of protein biochemistry and biophysics to extensively characterise various roles of the Mer2. We gain further insights into the details of Mer2 interaction with the PHD protein Spp1, reveal that Mer2 is a novel nucleosome binder, and suggest how Mer2’s interaction with the HORMA domain protein Hop1 (HORMAD1/2 in mammals) is controlled.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.