Dawe R K, Cande W Z
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Aug 6;93(16):8512-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.16.8512.
The Abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10) in maize causes normally-quiescent blocks of heterochromatin called knobs to function as meiotic centromeres. Under these circumstances genetic markers associated with knobs exhibit meiotic drive, i.e., they are preferentially transmitted to progeny. Here we describe a mutation called suppressor of meiotic drive (smd1) that partially suppresses meiotic drive, and demonstrate that smd1 causes a quantitative reduction in the mobility of knobs on the meiotic spindle. We conclude that Smd1 encodes a product that is necessary for the activation of ectopic centromeres, and that meiotic drive occurs as a consequence of the resulting change in chromosome movement. As a genetic system, Ab10 offers a new and powerful approach for analyzing centromere/kinetochore function.
玉米中的异常10号染色体（Ab10）会使通常静止的异染色质块（称为结节）发挥减数分裂着丝粒的功能。在这种情况下，与结节相关的遗传标记会表现出减数分裂驱动，即它们会优先传递给后代。在这里，我们描述了一种名为减数分裂驱动抑制因子（smd1）的突变，它能部分抑制减数分裂驱动，并证明smd1会导致结节在减数分裂纺锤体上的移动性出现定量减少。我们得出结论，Smd1编码一种激活异位着丝粒所必需的产物，并且减数分裂驱动是染色体运动发生变化的结果。作为一个遗传系统，Ab10为分析着丝粒/动粒功能提供了一种全新且强大的方法。
