The nuclear envelope protein Matefin/SUN-1 is required for homologous pairing in C. elegans meiosis.

Citation:

Penkner, A., Tang, L., Novatchkova, M., Ladurner, M., Fridkin, A., Gruenbaum, Y., Schweizer, D., et al. (2007). The nuclear envelope protein Matefin/SUN-1 is required for homologous pairing in C. elegans meiosis. Dev Cell, 12(6), 873-85. presented at the 2007 Jun. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2007.05.004

Date Published:

2007 Jun

Abstract:

We identify a highly specific mutation (jf18) in the Caenorhabditis elegans nuclear envelope protein matefin MTF-1/SUN-1 that provides direct evidence for active involvement of the nuclear envelope in homologous chromosome pairing in C. elegans meiosis. The reorganization of chromatin in early meiosis is disrupted in mtf-1/sun-1(jf18) gonads, concomitant with the absence of presynaptic homolog alignment. Synapsis is established precociously and nonhomologously. Wild-type leptotene/zygotene nuclei show patch-like aggregations of the ZYG-12 protein, which fail to develop in mtf-1/sun-1(jf18) mutants. These patches remarkably colocalize with a component of the cis-acting chromosomal pairing center (HIM-8) rather than the centrosome. Our data on this mtf-1/sun-1 allele challenge the previously postulated role of the centrosome/spindle organizing center in chromosome pairing, and clearly support a role for MTF-1/SUN-1 in meiotic chromosome reorganization and in homolog recognition, possibly by mediating local aggregation of the ZYG-12 protein in meiotic nuclei.