Effective chromosome pairing requires chromatin remodeling at the onset of meiosis

doi:10.1073/pnas.0801521105

Effective chromosome pairing requires chromatin remodeling at the onset of meiosis

*John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom;
^†Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible, Alameda del Obispo s/n, Apartado 4084, 14080 Córdoba, Spain;
^‡Biology Department, Augustana College, 2001 South Summit Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57197; and
^§Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

Communicated by Hugo K. Dooner, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, February 15, 2008 (received for review September 6, 2007)

Abstract

During meiosis, homologous chromosomes (homologues) recognize each other and then intimately associate. Studies exploiting species with large chromosomes reveal that chromatin is remodeled at the onset of meiosis before this intimate association. However, little is known about the effect the remodeling has on pairing. We show here in wheat that chromatin remodeling of homologues can only occur if they are identical or nearly identical. Moreover, a failure to undergo remodeling results in reduced pairing between the homologues. Thus, chromatin remodeling at the onset of meiosis enables the chromosomes to become competent to pair and recombine efficiently.

Footnotes

^¶To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: graham.moore{at}bbsrc.ac.uk
Author contributions: I.C., P.S., P.P., M.W., and G.M. designed research; I.C., P.P., and M.W. performed research; W.S. and R.M. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; I.C., P.S., P.P., M.W., and G.M. analyzed data; and I.C., P.S., P.P., M.W., W.S., and G.M. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.