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Delineating the crossover control networks in plants

Subject Area Plant Genetics and Genomics
Term from 2014 to 2018
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 243557051
 
Final Report Year 2018

Final Report Abstract

The collaborative ERA-CAPS DeCOP (Delineating the crossover control networks in plants) project has been a joint effort by six European research groups. It focused on how meiotic recombination, chromosome organisation and remodelling are orchestrated to control the frequency and distribution of exchange of genetic information during meiosis in plants. Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division required for sexual reproduction. It ensures the reduction of the genome and the recombination of maternal and paternal chromosomal segments prior to the formation of generative cells. The process of meiotic recombination is initiated by programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Ultimately, the positions of the DSBs define loci of mutual genetic exchange. However, in a single meiotic cell only a small subset of DSBs are destined to form genetic crossovers (COs), while the remainder are repaired via non-CO pathways. In this collaborative project we 1) identified novel factors that modulate CO formation and interference, 2) investigated the role of chromosome axis-associated proteins in CO maturation and interference, 3) determined the role of (ATM/ATR/CK2 mediated) phosphorylation in coordinating DNA repair and 4) identified proteins involved in the final step of meiotic CO formation. Some of the research work has already been published some other aspects are still under investigations. We especially highlight the findings that the protein ASY4 has been identified as a novel meiotic axis protein, that PCH2 has been identified and described as a meiotic axis re-modelling factor in plants, that cross-linking mass spectrometry techniques have been established and employed to characterize a meiotic protein complex, that novel phosphorylation sites on meiotic axis proteins have been identified, that in-depth phospho-proteomic studies established the kinase CK2 as a key mediator of DNA damage response, that local zygosity modulates meiotic interference, that HEI10 dosage positively correlates with CO frequency, that DNA methylation and nucleosome density, identity and modifications define meiotic DSB and hence CO frequency and that AtRMI2 and AtRTEL1 are needed for 45S rDNA stability. In summary, this European research consortium contributed considerably to the understanding of meiotic DSB formation, recombination and cross-over formation in plants. The coordination of research avoided competition and redundancy and, importantly, the regular exchange of ideas, knowhow and research materials and the regular meetings of involved researches stimulated new research directions and collaborations.

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