Group Peter Schlögelhofer
meiotic recombination hot spots
in Arabidopsis thaliana
Peter Schlögelhofer: Analysis of meiotic recombination hot spots in A. thaliana
In most eukaryotes a specialised cell division called meiosis ensures the reduction of the genome prior to the formation of generative cells. During meiosis, genetic information between maternal and paternal chromosomes is exchanged, leading to novel combinations of genetic traits in the following generation. The molecular basis of this process is recombination between homologous chromosomes and depends on the formation of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). These breaks are formed at non-random sites throughout the genome, called meiotic hot spots. DSBs are formed by a protein complex, with the Spo11 protein being its catalytically active subunit. Initiation of meiotic recombination has been best studied in yeast, but is largely enigmatic in higher eukaryotes. While mammalian model systems aim at understanding meiosis to benefit human health and fertility, the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is the organism of choice to elucidate meiotic recombination in higher plants.
The proposed project aims:
1) to isolate co-factors of the plant meiotic nucleases SPO11-1 and SPO11-2,
2) to establish a methodology to identify hot spots of meiotic recombination genome-wide in a higher plant,
3) to generate artificial hot spots of meiotic recombination, with the inherent potential of facilitating breeding of crop plants and
4) to analyze novel candidate genes involved in meiotic recombination by a reverse genetic approach.
Figure 1: Meiotic progression in wild type meiocytes of A. thaliana
Figure 2: Meiotic progression of Atmnd1 mutants, exhibiting severe chromosome fragmentation