Developmental Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, USA.
Genes Dev. 2010 Jun 15;24(12):1201-7. doi: 10.1101/gad.1944710.
Meiotic recombination is initiated by programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated by the Spo11 protein. In budding yeast, five other meiotic-specific proteins are also required for DSB formation, but, with rare exception, orthologs had not been identified in other species. In this issue of Genes & Development, Kumar and colleagues (pp. 1266-1280) used a phylogenomic approach to identify two of these proteins across multiple clades, and confirmed that one of these, MEI4, is a functional ortholog in mouse.
减数分裂重组是由 Spo11 蛋白引发的有丝分裂 DNA 双链断裂 (DSB) 启动的。在芽殖酵母中,还需要另外五种减数分裂特异性蛋白来形成 DSB,但除了极少数例外,在其他物种中尚未鉴定出这些蛋白的同源物。在本期《基因与发育》杂志上,Kumar 及其同事(第 1266-1280 页)采用系统发育基因组学方法在多个进化枝中鉴定了这两种蛋白,并证实其中一种,即 MEI4,在小鼠中是一种功能性同源物。