Abstract
In Neurospora, DNA unpaired in meiosis both is silenced and induces silencing of all DNA homologous to it. This process, called meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA, is thought to protect the host genome from invasion by transposable elements. We now show that silencing of unpaired (unsynapsed) chromosome regions also takes place in the mouse during both male and female meiosis. The tumor suppressor protein BRCA1 is implicated in this silencing, mirroring its role in the meiotic silencing of the X and Y chromosomes in normal male meiosis. These findings impact on the interpretation of the relationship between synaptic errors and sterility in mammals and extend our understanding of the biology of Brca1.
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Acknowledgements
We thank C. Heyting and W. Earnshaw for providing antibody reagents; T. Nesterova, L. Hall and J Lawrence for advice on RNA FISH; O. Ojarikre for mouse breeding; and H. Byers for critical reading of the manuscript. J.M.A.T. is an MRC Career Development Fellow.
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Supplementary Fig. 1
Transcription patterns during male meiosis as revealed by Cot-1 RNA FISH and γH2AX and CREST immunostaining. (PDF 10 kb)
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Turner, J., Mahadevaiah, S., Fernandez-Capetillo, O. et al. Silencing of unsynapsed meiotic chromosomes in the mouse. Nat Genet 37, 41–47 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1484
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1484