Homologous recombination hotspots increase the frequency of recombination in nearby DNA. The M26 hotspot in the ade6 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a meiotic hotspot with a discrete, cis-acting nucleotide sequence (5'-ATGACGT-3') defined by extensive mutagenesis. A heterodimeric M26 DNA binding protein, composed of subunits Mts1 and Mts2, has been identified and purified 40,000-fold. Clon...

During meiosis, accurate segregation of intact chromosomes is essential for generating healthy gametes. Defects in recombination and/or chromosome synapsis activate the pachytene checkpoint, which delays meiotic cell cycle progression to avoid aberrant chromosome segregation and formation of defective gametes. Here, we characterize the role of the conserved DNA damage checkpoint protein Ddc2/AT...

Analysis of mutants defective in meiotic chromosome pairing has uncovered a role for Caenorhabditis elegans chk-2 in initial establishment of pairing between homologous chromosomes during early meiotic prophase. chk-2 is also required for the major spatial reorganization of nuclei that normally accompanies the onset of pairing, suggesting a mechanistic coupling of these two events. Despite fail...

Given the importance of meiotic recombination in biology, there is a need to develop robust methods to estimate meiotic recombination rates. A popular approach, called the Marey map approach, relies on comparing genetic and physical maps of a chromosome to estimate local recombination rates. In the past, we have implemented this approach in an R package called MareyMap, which includes many func...

HE models for genetic recombination which were designed by WHITEHOUSE T(1963) and HOLLIDAY (1 964) differ in some details, but both include a stage at which two chromatids of the tetrad carry corresponding segments of hybrid DNA (a region in which the two complementary strands come from different chromatids). The models were designed to account for both reciprocal and nonreciprocal recombinatio...

Meiotic recombination initiated in prophase I of meiosis generates either crossovers (COs), which are reciprocal exchanges between chromosome segments, or gene conversion not associated to crossovers (NCOs). Both kinds of events occur in narrow regions (less than 10 kilobases) called hotspots, which are distributed non-homogenously along chromosomes. The aim of my PhD was the characterization o...