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Playing for half the deck: the molecular biology of meiosis

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages S50–S56 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Meiosis reduces the number of chromosomes carried by a diploid organism by half, partitioning precisely one haploid genome into each gamete. The basic events of meiosis reflect three meiosis-specific processes: first, pairing and synapsis of homologous chromosomes; second, high-frequency, precisely controlled, reciprocal crossover; third, the regulation of sister-chromatid cohesion (SCC), such that during anaphase I, SCC is released along the chromosome arms, but not at the centromeres. The failure of any of these processes can result in aneuploidy or a failure of meiotic segregation.

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Figure 1: Meiosis.
Figure 2: Directionality of the meiotic process — D. melanogaster versus S. cerevisiae.
Figure 3: Schematic representation of a bivalent at metaphase I arrest.
Figure 4: Distribution of exchange along the X chromosome arm.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Hassold and members of the Hawley laboratory for critical comments on the text. We also thank K. McKim and K. Koehler for providing us with the initials drafts of Figs 3 and 4, respectively. Finally, we are grateful to one anonymous reviewer, whose constructive commentary aided us enormously.

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  1. Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 East 50th Street, Kansas City, 64110, MO, USA

    Mia D. Champion & R. Scott Hawley

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Correspondence to R. Scott Hawley.

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Champion, M., Hawley, R. Playing for half the deck: the molecular biology of meiosis. Nat Med 8 (Suppl 10), S50–S56 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm-fertilityS50

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