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Ending up with the right partner

Nature volume 392, pages 753–754 (1998)Cite this article

How do the correct maternal and paternal chromosomes find one another during sexual reproduction? New data from fission yeast indicate that the search for the right partner is simplified by pre-alignment of the chromosomes through clustering of their ends.

Arguably the most intimate event in sexual reproduction is the tight embrace of paternal and maternal chromosomes that occurs during the formation of gametes (in humans, the eggs or sperm). In a process known as meiosis, the two copies of each chromosome (called homologues) snuggle up to form precisely aligned pairs and exchange genetic information (recombination). The pairing and recombination of homologues permits their faithful separation, such that each gamete is haploid — that is, endowed with just one copy of each chromosome. But how do homologous chromosomes meet? On pages 825 and of this issue, Nimmo et al.1 and Cooper et al.2 pinpoint the ends of chromosomes (telomeres) as major movers in homologous pairing in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

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Figure 1: Chromosome movements that occur before pairing of maternal and paternal (homologous) chromosomes during sexual reproduction in fission yeast, mammals and plants.

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  1. The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, 10021, New York, USA

    Titia de Lange

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  1. Titia de Lange
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de Lange, T. Ending up with the right partner. Nature 392, 753–754 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/33790

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