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Science 9 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5754, pp. 1683 - 1686
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117468
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Reports

A Conserved Checkpoint Monitors Meiotic Chromosome Synapsis in Caenorhabditis elegans

Needhi Bhalla1,2 and Abby F. Dernburg1,2*

We report the discovery of a checkpoint that monitors synapsis between homologous chromosomes to ensure accurate meiotic segregation. Oocytes containing unsynapsed chromosomes selectively undergo apoptosis even if a germline DNA damage checkpoint is inactivated. This culling mechanism is specifically activated by unsynapsed pairing centers, cis-acting chromosome sites that are also required to promote synapsis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Apoptosis due to synaptic failure also requires the C. elegans homolog of PCH2, a budding yeast pachytene checkpoint gene, which suggests that this surveillance mechanism is widely conserved.

1 Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: afdernburg{at}lbl.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)