拟南芥减数分裂重组发生的遗传学研究

Studies on Genetics of Meiotic Recombination in Arabidopsis

减数分裂是有性生殖物种世代交替的转折点,而减数分裂过程中发生的遗传重组则是遗传变异的源泉,并为有性生物的进化提供了推动力。现已发现许多基因在重组过程中起重要作用。由于重组蛋白的高度保守性,反向遗传学为研究植物重组蛋白的性质及作用提供了充分的证据。本文就近年来对模式植物拟南芥减数分裂中的DNA双链断裂形成与修复以及同源染色体重组交换等重要事件及其相关基因的功能进行了概述,尤其对ZMM家族蛋白在遗传重组中的作用进行了重点介绍。

Meiosis is the conversion point of life cycles sexually reproducing organisms as recombination provides immediate sources of genetic variation, thus contributing to the evolution of an organism. To date, many genes have been shown to be involved in meiotic recombination machinery. Given the high degree of conservation of recombination proteins among species, reverse genetic approach has proven to be very powerful for characterization of the functions of plant recombinational proteins. This review is focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying the important events occurring during meiosis in Arabidopsis, including DNA double strand break formation and repair.