RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ensuring meiotic DNA break formation in the mouse pseudoautosomal region
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 536136
DO 10.1101/536136
A1 Laurent Acquaviva
A1 Michiel Boekhout
A1 Mehmet E. Karasu
A1 Kevin Brick
A1 Florencia Pratto
A1 Megan van Overbeek
A1 Liisa Kauppi
A1 R. Daniel Camerini-Otero
A1 Maria Jasin
A1 Scott Keeney
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/01/31/536136.abstract
AB Sex chromosomes in males share only a diminutive homologous segment, the pseudoautosomal region (PAR), wherein meiotic double-strand breaks (DSBs), pairing, and crossing over must occur for correct segregation. How cells ensure PAR recombination is unknown. Here we delineate cis-and trans-acting factors that control PAR ultrastructure and make the PAR the hottest area of DSB formation in the male mouse genome. Prior to DSB formation, PAR chromosome axes elongate, sister chromatids separate, and DSB-promoting factors hyperaccumulate. These phenomena are linked to mo-2 minisatellite arrays and require ANKRD31 protein. We propose that the repetitive PAR sequence confers unique chromatin and higher order structures crucial for DSB formation, X–Y pairing, and recombination. Our findings establish a mechanistic paradigm of mammalian sex chromosome segregation during spermatogenesis.