2010 December - 16 articles
Meiotic recombination is initiated by the induction of programmed DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). DSB repair promotes homologous interactions and pairing and leads to the formation of crossovers (COs), which are required for the proper reductional s...
Gene conversion is a specific type of homologous recombination that involves the unidirectional transfer of genetic material from a ‘donor’ sequence to a highly homologous ‘acceptor’. We have recently reviewed the molecular mechanisms underlying gene...
Meiosis yields haploid gametes following two successive divisions of a germ cell in the absence of intervening DNA replication. Balanced segregation of homologous chromosomes in Meiosis I is aided by a proteinaceous structure, the synaptonemal comple...
Male spermatogenesis is an essential and complex process necessary to gain totipotency and allow a whole new organism to develop upon fertilization. While single-gene based studies have provided insights into the mechanisms underlying spermatogenesis...
During the first meiotic prophase, the cohesin complex is localized to the chromosome axis and contributes to chromosome organization, pairing, synapsis, and recombination. The PDS5 protein, an accessory factor of the cohesin complex, is known to be...
Sister chromatid cohesion is essential for cell division. During meiosis, it is also required for proper synapsis of pairs of sister chromatids and for chiasma formation and maintenance. Since mammalian oocytes remain arrested in late prophase for a...
Interlocus gene conversion, the nonreciprocal exchange of genetic material between genes, is facilitated by high levels of sequence identity between DNA sequences and has the dual effect of homogenizing intergenic sequences while increasing intrageni...
The RING domain-containing protein CCNB1IP1 (Cyclin B1 Interacting Protein 1) is a putative ubiquitin E3 ligase that is essential for chiasmata formation, and hence fertility, in mice. Previous studies in cultured cells indicated that CCNB1IP1 target...
Gene conversion (conversion), the unidirectional transfer of DNA sequence information, occurs as a byproduct of recombinational repair of broken or damaged DNA molecules. Whereas excision repair processes replace damaged DNA by copying the complement...
Xenopus embryos provide a rich source of pluripotent cells that can be differentiated into functional organs. Since the molecular principles of vertebrate organogenesis appear to be conserved between Xenopus and mammals, this system can provide usefu...
Cytogenetic analysis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) established several biomarkers that have been correlated to clinical parameters during the past years. Adequate cell culture model systems are required for functional studies inves...
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) refers to technologies that do not rely on traditional dideoxy-nucleotide (Sanger) sequencing where labeled DNA fragments are physically resolved by electrophoresis. These new technologies rely on different strategies...
Polysaccharides are an important source of organic carbon in the marine environment and degradation of the insoluble and globally abundant cellulose is a major component of the marine carbon cycle. Although a number of species of cultured bacteria ar...
Introns are common among all eukaryotes, while only a limited number of introns are found in prokaryotes. Globin and globin-like proteins are widely distributed in nature, being found even in prokaryotes and a wide range of patterns of intron-exon ha...
Cell Division Autoantigen 1 (CDA1) was discovered following screening a human expression library with serum from a patient with Discoid Lupus Erythematosus. CDA1, encoded by TSPYL2 on the X chromosome, shares anti-proliferative and pro‑fibrotic prope...
The importance of gene conversion for the evolution of gene families is reviewed. Four problems concerning gene conversion, i.e., concerted evolution, generation of useful variation, deleterious effects, and relation to neofunctionalization, are disc...
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