Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Science. 2012 Dec 7;338(6112):1363-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1228190.
Generation of meiotic crossovers in many eukaryotes requires the elimination of anti-crossover activities by using the Msh4-Msh5 heterodimer to block helicases. Msh4 and Msh5 have been lost from the flies Drosophila and Glossina, but we identified a complex of minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins that functionally replace Msh4-Msh5. We found that REC, an ortholog of MCM8 that evolved under strong positive selection in flies, interacts with MEI-217 and MEI-218, which arose from a previously undescribed metazoan-specific MCM protein. Meiotic crossovers were reduced in Drosophila rec, mei-217, and mei-218 mutants; however, removal of the Bloom syndrome helicase (BLM) ortholog restored crossovers. Thus, MCMs were co-opted into a novel complex that replaced the meiotic pro-crossover function of Msh4-Msh5 in flies.
在许多真核生物中,减数分裂交叉的产生需要利用 Msh4-Msh5 异二聚体来消除抗交叉活性,以阻止解旋酶的作用。果蝇和舌蝇已经失去了 Msh4 和 Msh5,但我们鉴定出一个由微小染色体维持 (MCM) 蛋白组成的复合物,该复合物在功能上替代了 Msh4-Msh5。我们发现,在果蝇中经历强烈正选择进化的 REC,是 MCM8 的同源物,与 MEI-217 和 MEI-218 相互作用,而 MEI-217 和 MEI-218 则来自于以前未描述的后生动物特异性 MCM 蛋白。果蝇 rec、mei-217 和 mei-218 突变体中的减数分裂交叉减少;然而,去除 Bloom 综合征解旋酶 (BLM) 同源物恢复了交叉。因此,MCM 被招募到一个新的复合物中,该复合物取代了 Msh4-Msh5 在果蝇中的减数分裂前交叉功能。