Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Originally published in Science Express on 31 January 2008
Science 7 March 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5868, pp. 1395 - 1398
DOI: 10.1126/science.1151851
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

High-Resolution Mapping of Crossovers Reveals Extensive Variation in Fine-Scale Recombination Patterns Among Humans

Graham Coop,1* Xiaoquan Wen,1 Carole Ober,1,2 Jonathan K. Pritchard,1* Molly Przeworski1*

Recombination plays a crucial role in meiosis, ensuring the proper segregation of chromosomes. Recent linkage disequilibrium (LD) and sperm-typing studies suggest that recombination rates vary tremendously across the human genome, with most events occurring in narrow "hotspots." To examine variation in fine-scale recombination patterns among individuals, we used dense, genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data collected in nuclear families to localize crossovers with high spatial resolution. This analysis revealed that overall recombination hotspot usage is similar in males and females, with individual hotspots often active in both sexes. Across the genome, roughly 60% of crossovers occurred in hotspots inferred from LD studies. Notably, however, we found extensive and heritable variation among both males and females in the proportion of crossovers occurring in these hotspots.

1 Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Cummings Life Science Center, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gcoop{at}uchicago.edu (G.C.); pritch{at}uchicago.edu (J.K.P.); mfp{at}uchicago.edu (M.P.)

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The human Major Histocompatibility Complex as a paradigm in genomics research.
C. Vandiedonck and J. C. Knight (2009)
Brief Funct Genomic Proteomic
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Global distribution of genomic diversity underscores rich complex history of continental human populations.
A. Auton, K. Bryc, A. R. Boyko, K. E. Lohmueller, J. Novembre, A. Reynolds, A. Indap, M. H. Wright, J. D. Degenhardt, R. N. Gutenkunst, et al. (2009)
Genome Res. 19, 795-803
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Population genomic inference of recombination rates and hotspots.
Y. Wang and B. Rannala (2009)
PNAS 106, 6215-6219
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
HapMap methylation-associated SNPs, markers of germline DNA methylation, positively correlate with regional levels of human meiotic recombination.
M. I. Sigurdsson, A. V. Smith, H. T. Bjornsson, and J. J. Jonsson (2009)
Genome Res. 19, 581-589
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular Population Genetics and Evolution of Drosophila Meiosis Genes.
J. A. Anderson, W. D. Gilliland, and C. H. Langley (2009)
Genetics 181, 177-185
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bayesian inference of fine-scale recombination rates using population genomic data.
Y. Wang and B. Rannala (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 3921-3930
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Different Selective Pressures Shape the Molecular Evolution of Color Vision in Chimpanzee and Human Populations.
B. C. Verrelli, C. M. Lewis Jr, A. C. Stone, and G. H. Perry (2008)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 25, 2735-2743
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Domain-Specific Regulation of Recombination in Caenorhabditis elegans in Response to Temperature, Age and Sex.
J. G. Y. Lim, R. R. W. Stine, and J. L. Yanowitz (2008)
Genetics 180, 715-726
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sperm cross-over activity in regions of the human genome showing extreme breakdown of marker association.
A. J. Webb, I. L. Berg, and A. Jeffreys (2008)
PNAS 105, 10471-10476
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fine-scale mapping of recombination rate in Drosophila refines its correlation to diversity and divergence.
R. J. Kulathinal, S. M. Bennett, C. L. Fitzpatrick, and M. A. F. Noor (2008)
PNAS 105, 10051-10056
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)