scholarly journals Chromosome interaction over a distance in meiosis

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 150029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Brady ◽  
Leocadia V. Paliulis

The challenge of cell division is to distribute partner chromosomes (pairs of homologues, pairs of sex chromosomes or pairs of sister chromatids) correctly, one into each daughter cell. In the ‘standard’ meiosis, this problem is solved by linking partners together via a chiasma and/or sister chromatid cohesion, and then separating the linked partners from one another in anaphase; thus, the partners are kept track of, and correctly distributed. Many organisms, however, properly separate chromosomes in the absence of any obvious physical connection, and movements of unconnected partner chromosomes are coordinated at a distance. Meiotic distance interactions happen in many different ways and in different types of organisms. In this review, we discuss several different known types of distance segregation and propose possible explanations for non-random segregation of distance-segregating chromosomes.

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 146 (4) ◽  
pp. 1319-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon E Bickel ◽  
Dudley W Wyman ◽  
Terry L Orr-Weaver

The ord gene is required for proper segregation of all chromosomes in both male and female Drosophila meiosis. Here we describe the isolation of a null ord allele and examine the consequences of ablating ord function. Cytologically, meiotic sister-chromatid cohesion is severely disrupted in flies lacking ORD protein. Moreover, the frequency of missegregation in genetic tests is consistent with random segregation of chromosomes through both meiotic divisions, suggesting that sister cohesion may be completely abolished. However, only a slight decrease in viability is observed for ord null flies, indicating that ORD function is not essential for cohesion during somatic mitosis. In addition, we do not observe perturbation of germ-line mitotic divisions in flies lacking ORD activity. Our analysis of weaker ord alleles suggests that ORD is required for proper centromeric cohesion after arm cohesion is released at the metaphase I/anaphase I transition. Finally, although meiotic cohesion is abolished in the ord null fly, chromosome loss is not appreciable. Therefore, ORD activity appears to promote centromeric cohesion during meiosis II but is not essential for kinetochore function during anaphase.


2010 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rihui Yan ◽  
Sharon E. Thomas ◽  
Jui-He Tsai ◽  
Yukihiro Yamada ◽  
Bruce D. McKee

Sister chromatid cohesion is essential to maintain stable connections between homologues and sister chromatids during meiosis and to establish correct centromere orientation patterns on the meiosis I and II spindles. However, the meiotic cohesion apparatus in Drosophila melanogaster remains largely uncharacterized. We describe a novel protein, sisters on the loose (SOLO), which is essential for meiotic cohesion in Drosophila. In solo mutants, sister centromeres separate before prometaphase I, disrupting meiosis I centromere orientation and causing nondisjunction of both homologous and sister chromatids. Centromeric foci of the cohesin protein SMC1 are absent in solo mutants at all meiotic stages. SOLO and SMC1 colocalize to meiotic centromeres from early prophase I until anaphase II in wild-type males, but both proteins disappear prematurely at anaphase I in mutants for mei-S332, which encodes the Drosophila homologue of the cohesin protector protein shugoshin. The solo mutant phenotypes and the localization patterns of SOLO and SMC1 indicate that they function together to maintain sister chromatid cohesion in Drosophila meiosis.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Gutierrez-Escribano ◽  
Matthew D. Newton ◽  
Aida Llauró ◽  
Jonas Huber ◽  
Loredana Tanasie ◽  
...  

AbstractEssential processes such as accurate chromosome segregation, regulation of gene expression and DNA repair rely on protein-mediated DNA tethering. Sister chromatid cohesion requires the SMC complex cohesin to act as a protein linker that holds replicated chromatids together (1, 2). The molecular mechanism by which cohesins hold sister chromatids has remained controversial. Here, we used a single molecule approach to visualise the activity of cohesin complexes as they hold DNA molecules. We describe a DNA bridging activity that requires ATP and is conserved from yeast to human cohesin. We show that cohesin can form two distinct classes of bridges at physiological conditions, a “permanent bridge” able to resists high force (over 80pN) and a “reversible bridge” that breaks at lower forces (5-40pN). Both classes of bridges require Scc2/Scc4 in addition to ATP. We demonstrate that bridge formation requires physical proximity of the DNA segments to be tethered and show that “permanent” cohesin bridges can move between two DNA molecules but cannot be removed from DNA when they occur in cis. This suggests that separate physical compartments in cohesin molecules are involved in the bridge. Finally, we show that cohesin tetramers, unlike condensin, cannot compact linear DNA molecules against low force, demonstrating that the core activity of cohesin tetramers is bridging DNA rather than compacting it. Our findings carry important implications for the understanding of the basic mechanisms behind cohesin-dependent establishment of sister chromatid cohesion and chromosome architecture.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (15) ◽  
pp. 1811-1824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hem Sapkota ◽  
Emilia Wasiak ◽  
John R. Daum ◽  
Gary J. Gorbsky

Cells delayed in metaphase with intact mitotic spindles undergo cohesion fatigue, where sister chromatids separate asynchronously, while cells remain in mitosis. Cohesion fatigue requires release of sister chromatid cohesion. However, the pathways that breach sister chromatid cohesion during cohesion fatigue remain unknown. Using moderate-salt buffers to remove loosely bound chromatin cohesin, we show that “cohesive” cohesin is not released during chromatid separation during cohesion fatigue. Using a regulated protein heterodimerization system to lock different cohesin ring interfaces at specific times in mitosis, we show that the Wapl-mediated pathway of cohesin release is not required for cohesion fatigue. By manipulating microtubule stability and cohesin complex integrity in cell lines with varying sensitivity to cohesion fatigue, we show that rates of cohesion fatigue reflect a dynamic balance between spindle pulling forces and resistance to separation by interchromatid cohesion. Finally, while massive separation of chromatids in cohesion fatigue likely produces inviable cell progeny, we find that short metaphase delays, leading to partial chromatid separation, predispose cells to chromosome missegregation. Thus, complete separation of one or a few chromosomes and/or partial separation of sister chromatids may be an unrecognized but common source of chromosome instability that perpetuates the evolution of malignant cells in cancer.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1639-1644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel A. Oliveira ◽  
Kim Nasmyth

Sister-chromatid cohesion, thought to be primarily mediated by the cohesin complex, is essential for chromosome segregation. The forces holding the two sisters resist the tendency of microtubules to prematurely pull sister DNAs apart and thereby prevent random segregation of the genome during mitosis, and consequent aneuploidy. By counteracting the spindle pulling forces, cohesion between the two sisters generates the tension necessary to stabilize microtubule–kinetochore attachments. Upon entry into anaphase, however, the linkages that hold the two sister DNAs must be rapidly destroyed to allow physical separation of chromatids. Anaphase cells must therefore possess mechanisms that ensure faithful segregation of single chromatids that are now attached stably to the spindle in a manner no longer dependent on tension. In the present review, we discuss the nature of the cohesive forces that hold sister chromatids together, the mechanisms that trigger their physical separation, and the anaphase-specific changes that ensure proper segregation of single chromatids during the later stages of mitosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 1081-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Bender ◽  
Eulália Maria Lima Da Silva ◽  
Jingrong Chen ◽  
Annelise Poss ◽  
Lauren Gawey ◽  
...  

The tethering together of sister chromatids by the cohesin complex ensures their accurate alignment and segregation during cell division. In vertebrates, sister chromatid cohesion requires the activity of the ESCO2 acetyltransferase, which modifies the Smc3 subunit of cohesin. It was shown recently that ESCO2 promotes cohesion through interaction with the MCM replicative helicase. However, ESCO2 does not significantly colocalize with the MCM complex, suggesting there are additional interactions important for ESCO2 function. Here we show that ESCO2 is recruited to replication factories, sites of DNA replication, through interaction with PCNA. We show that ESCO2 contains multiple PCNA-interaction motifs in its N terminus, each of which is essential to its ability to establish cohesion. We propose that multiple PCNA-interaction motifs embedded in a largely flexible and disordered region of the protein underlie the unique ability of ESCO2 to establish cohesion between sister chromatids precisely as they are born during DNA replication.


2004 ◽  
Vol 359 (1441) ◽  
pp. 99-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Nasmyth ◽  
Alexander Schleiffer

The propagation of our genomes during cell proliferation depends on the movement of sister DNA molecules produced by DNA replication to opposite sides of the cell before it divides. This feat is achieved by microtubules in eukaryotic cells but it has long remained a mystery how cells ensure that sister DNAs attach to microtubules with opposite orientations, known as amphitelic attachment. It is currently thought that sister chromatid cohesion has a crucial role. By resisting the forces exerted by microtubules, sister chromatid cohesion gives rise to tension that is thought essential for stabilizing kinetochore–microtubule attachments. Efficient amphitelic attachment is therefore achieved by an error correction mechanism that selectively eliminates connections that do not give rise to tension. Cohesion between sister chromatids is mediated by a multisubunit complex called cohesin which forms a gigantic ring structure. It has been proposed that sister DNAs are held together owing to their becoming entrapped within a single cohesin ring. Cohesion between sister chromatids is destroyed at the metaphase to anaphase transition by proteolytic cleavage of cohesin's Scc1 subunit by a thiol protease called separase, which severs the ring and thereby releases sister DNAs.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 3455
Author(s):  
Janne J.M. van Schie ◽  
Job de Lange

The cohesin complex facilitates faithful chromosome segregation by pairing the sister chromatids after DNA replication until mitosis. In addition, cohesin contributes to proficient and error-free DNA replication. Replisome progression and establishment of sister chromatid cohesion are intimately intertwined processes. Here, we review how the key factors in DNA replication and cohesion establishment cooperate in unperturbed conditions and during DNA replication stress. We discuss the detailed molecular mechanisms of cohesin recruitment and the entrapment of replicated sister chromatids at the replisome, the subsequent stabilization of sister chromatid cohesion via SMC3 acetylation, as well as the role and regulation of cohesin in the response to DNA replication stress.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Yun ◽  
Zijie Wei ◽  
Neil Hunter

Obesity is increasing globally and maternal obesity has adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes and the long-term health of offspring. Maternal obesity has been associated with pregnancy failure through impaired oogenesis and embryogenesis. However, whether maternal obesity causes chromosome abnormalities in oocytes has remained unclear. Here we show that chromosome abnormalities are increased in the oocytes of obese mice and identify weakened sister-chromatid cohesion as the likely cause. Numbers of full-grown follicles retrieved from obese mice were the same as controls and the efficiency of in vitro oocyte maturation remained high. However, chromosome abnormalities presenting in both metaphase-I and metaphase-II were elevated, most prominently the premature separation of sister chromatids. Weakened sister-chromatid cohesion in oocytes from obese mice was manifested both as the terminalization of chiasmata in metaphase-I and as increased separation of sister centromeres in metaphase II. Obesity-associated abnormalities were elevated in older mice implying that maternal obesity exacerbates the deterioration of cohesion seen with advancing age.


2001 ◽  
Vol 155 (5) ◽  
pp. 711-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fedor Severin ◽  
Anthony A. Hyman ◽  
Simonetta Piatti

At the metaphase to anaphase transition, chromosome segregation is initiated by the splitting of sister chromatids. Subsequently, spindles elongate, separating the sister chromosomes into two sets. Here, we investigate the cell cycle requirements for spindle elongation in budding yeast using mutants affecting sister chromatid cohesion or DNA replication. We show that separation of sister chromatids is not sufficient for proper spindle integrity during elongation. Rather, successful spindle elongation and stability require both sister chromatid separation and anaphase-promoting complex activation. Spindle integrity during elongation is dependent on proteolysis of the securin Pds1 but not on the activity of the separase Esp1. Our data suggest that stabilization of the elongating spindle at the metaphase to anaphase transition involves Pds1-dependent targets other than Esp1.


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