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Science 14 July 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5477, pp. 254 - 255
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5477.254
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Perspectives

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY:
The Mad Ways of Meiosis

Greenfield Sluder and Dannel McCollum

Reproductive cells that are destined to become sperm or egg undergo meiotic division during which the chromosome number is halved. As Sluder and McCollum explain in their Perspective, new findings (Shonn et al.) in yeast show that there is a spindle checkpoint that operates during meiosis to ensure that an equal number of replicated chromosomes arrives at each pole of the cell. One of the components of this meiotic spindle checkpoint turns out to be Mad2, which gives the signal to halt meiosis if it looks like unequal chromosome segregation is taking place.

The authors are in the Departments of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. E-mail: greenfield.sluder{at}umassmed.edu and dannel.mccollum{at}umassmed.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Reduced meiotic recombination on the XY bivalent is correlated with an increased incidence of sex chromosome aneuploidy in men with non-obstructive azoospermia.
F. Sun, M. Mikhaail-Philips, M. Oliver-Bonet, E. Ko, A. Rademaker, P. Turek, and R.H. Martin (2008)
Mol. Hum. Reprod. 14, 399-404
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Reduced Expression of MAD2, BCL2, and MAP Kinase Activity in Pig Oocytes after In Vitro Aging Are Associated with Defects in Sister Chromatid Segregation During Meiosis II and Embryo Fragmentation After Activation.
W. Ma, D. Zhang, Y. Hou, Y.-H. Li, Q.-Y. Sun, X.-F. Sun, and W.-H. Wang (2005)
Biol Reprod 72, 373-383
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Nuclear Origin of Aging-Associated Meiotic Defects in Senescence-Accelerated Mice.
L. Liu and D. L. Keefe (2004)
Biol Reprod 71, 1724-1729
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Telomere-independent homologue pairing and checkpoint escape of accessory ring chromosomes in male mouse meiosis.
T. Voet, B. Liebe, C. Labaere, P. Marynen, and H. Scherthan (2003)
J. Cell Biol. 162, 795-808
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Attachment and tension in the spindle assembly checkpoint.
J. Zhou, J. Yao, and H. C. Joshi (2002)
J. Cell Sci. 115, 3547-3555
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Association between spindle assembly checkpoint expression and maternal age in human oocytes.
N. Steuerwald, J. Cohen, R. J. Herrera, M. Sandalinas, and C. A. Brenner (2001)
Mol. Hum. Reprod. 7, 49-55
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