PMID- 15467366
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050321
LR  - 20161124
IS  - 1424-859X (Electronic)
IS  - 1424-8581 (Linking)
VI  - 107
IP  - 3-4
DP  - 2004
TI  - Inter-sex variation in synaptonemal complex lengths largely determine the 
      different recombination rates in male and female germ cells.
PG  - 208-15
AB  - Meiotic chromosomes in human oocytes are packaged differently than in 
      spermatocytes at the pachytene stage of meiosis I, when crossing-over takes 
      place. Thus the meiosis-specific pairing structure, the synaptonemal complex 
      (SC), is considerably longer in oocytes in comparison to spermatocytes. The aim 
      of the present study was to examine the influence of this length factor on 
      meiotic recombination in male and female human germ cells. The positions of 
      crossovers were identified by the DNA mismatch repair protein MLH1. Spermatocytes 
      have approximately 50 crossovers per cell in comparison to more than 70 in 
      oocytes. Analyses of inter-crossover distances (and presumptively crossover 
      interference) along SCs suggested that while there might be inter-individual 
      variation, there was no consistent difference between sexes. Thus the higher rate 
      of recombination in human oocytes is not a consequence of more closely spaced 
      crossovers along the SCs. The rate of recombination per unit length of SC is 
      higher in spermatocytes than oocytes. However, when the so-called obligate 
      chiasma is excluded from the analysis, then the rates of recombination per unit 
      length of SC are essentially identical in the two sexes. Our analyses indicate 
      that the inter-sex difference in recombination is largely a consequence of the 
      difference in meiotic chromosome architecture in the two sexes. We propose that 
      SC length per se, and therefore the size of the physical platform for 
      crossing-over (and not the DNA content) is the principal factor determining the 
      difference in rate of recombination in male and female germ cells. A preliminary 
      investigation of SC loop size by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) 
      indicated loops may be shorter in oocytes than in spermatocytes.
CI  - Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.
FAU - Tease, C
AU  - Tease C
AD  - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
FAU - Hulten, M A
AU  - Hulten MA
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Cytogenet Genome Res
JT  - Cytogenetic and genome research
JID - 101142708
RN  - 0 (Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing)
RN  - 0 (Carrier Proteins)
RN  - 0 (MLH1 protein, human)
RN  - 0 (Neoplasm Proteins)
RN  - 0 (Nuclear Proteins)
RN  - EC 3.6.1.3 (MutL Protein Homolog 1)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
MH  - Carrier Proteins
MH  - Chromosomes, Human/genetics/metabolism
MH  - Crossing Over, Genetic/*genetics/*physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Genome, Human
MH  - Genomics
MH  - Humans
MH  - In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
MH  - Male
MH  - Meiosis
MH  - MutL Protein Homolog 1
MH  - Neoplasm Proteins/genetics/metabolism
MH  - Nuclear Proteins
MH  - Oocytes/*metabolism
MH  - *Sex Characteristics
MH  - Spermatocytes/*metabolism
MH  - Synaptonemal Complex/*metabolism
EDAT- 2004/10/07 09:00
MHDA- 2005/03/22 09:00
CRDT- 2004/10/07 09:00
PHST- 2003/12/17 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2004/06/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2004/10/07 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/03/22 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2004/10/07 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 80599 [pii]
AID - 10.1159/000080599 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Cytogenet Genome Res. 2004;107(3-4):208-15. doi: 10.1159/000080599.