Page Scott L, Hawley R Scott
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 East 50th Street, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA.
Science. 2003 Aug 8;301(5634):785-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1086605.
The separation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis in eukaryotes is the physical basis of Mendelian inheritance. The core of the meiotic process is a specialized nuclear division (meiosis I) in which homologs pair with each other, recombine, and then segregate from each other. The processes of chromosome alignment and pairing allow for homolog recognition. Reciprocal meiotic recombination ensures meiotic chromosome segregation by converting sister chromatid cohesion into mechanisms that hold homologous chromosomes together. Finally, the ability of sister kinetochores to orient to a single pole at metaphase I allows the separation of homologs to two different daughter cells. Failures to properly accomplish this elegant chromosome dance result in aneuploidy, a major cause of miscarriage and birth defects in human beings.
真核生物减数分裂过程中同源染色体的分离是孟德尔遗传的物理基础。减数分裂过程的核心是一种特殊的核分裂（减数第一次分裂），同源染色体在此过程中相互配对、重组，然后彼此分离。染色体排列和配对过程有助于同源染色体识别。相互的减数分裂重组通过将姐妹染色单体黏连转化为使同源染色体结合在一起的机制，确保减数分裂染色体分离。最后，姐妹动粒在减数第一次分裂中期定向于单极的能力，使得同源染色体分离到两个不同的子细胞中。未能正确完成这场精妙的染色体“舞蹈”会导致非整倍体，这是人类流产和出生缺陷的主要原因。
