Structural dissection of male meiosis in C. elegans

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Müller-Reichert
• Subject Area: Cell Biology ; Structural Biology
• Term: since 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 282354882

Meiosis is a fundamental biological process of all sexually reproducing organisms. Restricted to germ cells, meiosis halves the number of chromosomes in producing gametes and promotes genetic variability. Whereas female meiosis produces one haploid egg and two non-functional polar bodies, male meiosis produces four functional haploid sperm cells. Surprisingly little is known about the organization of the centrosome-based male meiotic spindles, and we urgently need to analyze the dynamics and the ultrastructure of these spindles. Taking advantage of the strengths of the animal model Caenorhabditis elegans, we aim to dissect male meiosis by applying both light and electron microscopy. We propose to: 1) analyze spindle dynamics in wild-type males, 2) manipulate the segregation of the univalent sex chromosome, 3) quantitatively characterize wild-type spindles by electron tomography, and 4) analyze the ultrastructure of mutant spindles. It is anticipated that this approach will lead to fundamental insights into male meiosis and will open up new avenues of research for a mechanistic characterization of this highly understudied biological process.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants