School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2012 Sep;69(18):3037-51. doi: 10.1007/s00018-012-0974-9. Epub 2012 Apr 6.
Maintenance of ploidy in sexually reproducing organisms requires a specialized form of cell division called meiosis that generates genetically diverse haploid gametes from diploid germ cells. Meiotic cells halve their ploidy by undergoing two rounds of nuclear division (meiosis I and II) after a single round of DNA replication. Research in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) has shown that four major deviations from the mitotic cell cycle during meiosis are essential for halving ploidy. The deviations are (1) formation of a link between homologous chromosomes by crossover, (2) monopolar attachment of sister kinetochores during meiosis I, (3) protection of centromeric cohesion during meiosis I, and (4) suppression of DNA replication following exit from meiosis I. In this review we present the current understanding of the above four processes in budding yeast and examine the possible conservation of molecular mechanisms from yeast to humans.
有性繁殖生物中染色体数目的维持需要一种特殊形式的细胞分裂,称为减数分裂,它能从二倍体生殖细胞产生遗传上不同的单倍体配子。减数分裂细胞在经历一轮 DNA 复制后,通过两轮核分裂(减数分裂 I 和减数分裂 II)将其染色体数目减半。对酿酒酵母(出芽酵母)的研究表明,减数分裂过程中与有丝分裂细胞周期的四个主要偏差对于染色体数目的减半是必需的。这些偏差包括:(1)同源染色体之间通过交叉形成连接,(2)减数分裂 I 中姐妹动粒的单极附着,(3)减数分裂 I 中着丝粒凝聚的保护,以及(4)减数分裂 I 结束后 DNA 复制的抑制。在这篇综述中,我们介绍了目前对出芽酵母中上述四个过程的理解,并探讨了从酵母到人类的分子机制可能的保守性。