Brekke Cathrine, Gjuvsland Arne B, Berg Peer, Johnston Susan E
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK.
Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oluf Thesens vei 6, Ås, 1433, Norway.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 18;15(1):9260. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-93003-7.
Meiotic crossover patterning shows huge variation within and between chromosomes, individuals, and species, yet the molecular and evolutionary causes and consequences of this variation remain poorly understood. A key step is to understand the genetic architecture of the crossover rate, positioning, and interference to determine if these factors are governed by common or distinct genetic processes. Here, we investigate individual variation in autosomal crossover count, crossover position (measured as both intra-chromosomal shuffling and distance to telomere), and crossover interference in a large breeding population of domestic pigs (N = 82,474 gametes). We show that all traits are heritable in females at the gamete (h = 0.07-0.11) and individual mean levels (h = 0.08-0.41). In females, crossover count, and interference are strongly associated with RNF212, but crossover positioning is associated with SYCP2, MEI4, and PRDM9. Our results show that crossover positioning and rate/interference are driven by distinct genetic processes in female pigs and have the capacity to evolve independently.
减数分裂交叉模式在染色体内部、染色体之间、个体之间以及物种之间都表现出巨大差异，然而这种变异的分子和进化原因及后果仍知之甚少。关键的一步是了解交叉率、定位和干扰的遗传结构，以确定这些因素是由共同的还是不同的遗传过程所控制。在此，我们在一个大型家猪繁殖群体（N = 82474个配子）中研究常染色体交叉计数、交叉位置（以内染色体改组和到端粒的距离来衡量）以及交叉干扰的个体变异。我们发现，所有性状在雌性配子水平（遗传力h = 0.07 - 0.11）和个体平均水平（遗传力h = 0.08 - 0.41）都是可遗传的。在雌性中，交叉计数和干扰与RNF212密切相关，但交叉定位与SYCP2、MEI4和PRDM9相关。我们的结果表明，雌性猪的交叉定位和速率/干扰是由不同的遗传过程驱动的，并且有能力独立进化。
