Kelly William G, Aramayo Rodolfo
Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Chromosome Res. 2007;15(5):633-51. doi: 10.1007/s10577-007-1143-0.
The sensing of accurate homologous recognition and pairing between discreet chromosomal regions and/or entire chromosomes entering meiosis is an essential step in ensuring correct alignment for recombination. A component of this is the recognition of heterology, which is required to prevent recombination at ectopic sites and between non-homologous chromosomes. It has been observed that a number of diverged organisms add an additional layer to this process: regions or chromosomes without a homologous counterpart are targeted for silencing during meiotic prophase I. This phenomenon was originally described in filamentous fungi, but has since been observed in nematodes and mammals. In this review we will generally group these phenomena under the title of meiotic silencing, and describe what is known about the process in the organisms in which it is observed. We will additionally propose that the functions of meiotic silencing originate in genome defense, and discuss its potential contributions to genome evolution and speciation.
在减数分裂过程中,感知离散染色体区域和/或整条染色体之间准确的同源识别和配对,是确保重组正确排列的关键步骤。其中一个组成部分是对异源的识别,这是防止异位位点和非同源染色体之间发生重组所必需的。据观察,许多分化的生物体在这个过程中增加了一个额外的层面:在减数分裂前期I,没有同源对应物的区域或染色体被靶向沉默。这种现象最初在丝状真菌中被描述,但后来在 nematodes 和哺乳动物中也被观察到。在这篇综述中,我们通常将这些现象归为减数分裂沉默这一标题下,并描述在观察到该现象的生物体中关于这一过程的已知情况。我们还将提出,减数分裂沉默的功能起源于基因组防御,并讨论其对基因组进化和物种形成的潜在贡献。 (注:原文中“nematodes”未翻译,可能是特定专业术语或拼写有误,若为“线虫”,整体译文会更准确通顺)