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Topoisomerase II is required for the proper separation of heterochromatic regions during Drosophila melanogaster female meiosis.

ABSTRACT: Heterochromatic homology ensures the segregation of achiasmate chromosomes during meiosis I in Drosophila melanogaster females, perhaps as a consequence of the heterochromatic threads that connect achiasmate homologs during prometaphase I. Here, we ask how these threads, and other possible heterochromatic entanglements, are resolved prior to anaphase I. We show that the knockdown of Topoisomerase II (Top2) by RNAi in the later stages of meiosis results in a specific defect in the separation of heterochromatic regions after spindle assembly. In Top2 RNAi-expressing oocytes, heterochromatic regions of both achiasmate and chiasmate chromosomes often failed to separate during prometaphase I and metaphase I. Heterochromatic regions were stretched into long, abnormal projections with centromeres localizing near the tips of the projections in some oocytes. Despite these anomalies, we observed bipolar spindles in most Top2 RNAi-expressing oocytes, although the obligately achiasmate 4th chromosomes exhibited a near complete failure to move toward the spindle poles during prometaphase I. Both achiasmate and chiasmate chromosomes displayed defects in biorientation. Given that euchromatic regions separate much earlier in prophase, no defects were expected or observed in the ability of euchromatic regions to separate during late prophase upon knockdown of Top2 at mid-prophase. Finally, embryos from Top2 RNAi-expressing females frequently failed to initiate mitotic divisions. These data suggest both that Topoisomerase II is involved in the resolution of heterochromatic DNA entanglements during meiosis I and that these entanglements must be resolved in order to complete meiosis.

SUBMITTER: Hughes SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4207608 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Topoisomerase II is required for the proper separation of heterochromatic regions during Drosophila melanogaster female meiosis.

Hughes Stacie E SE Hawley R Scott RS

PLoS genetics 20141023 10

Heterochromatic homology ensures the segregation of achiasmate chromosomes during meiosis I in Drosophila melanogaster females, perhaps as a consequence of the heterochromatic threads that connect achiasmate homologs during prometaphase I. Here, we ask how these threads, and other possible heterochromatic entanglements, are resolved prior to anaphase I. We show that the knockdown of Topoisomerase II (Top2) by RNAi in the later stages of meiosis results in a specific defect in the separation of h ...[more]

PMID: 25340780

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Project description:Dosage compensation refers to the equalization of most X-linked gene products between males and females. In Drosophila, it is mediated by the MSL complex that preferentially associates with numerous sites on the X chromosome in somatic cells of males, and is responsible for an enhancement of the transcriptional rate of a substantial number of X-linked genes. Here we show that topoisomerase II (Topo II) is an integral part of the mechanistic basis of dosage compensation and we highlight a novel function for this enzyme. A widely accepted model of transcription postulates that the moving bubble generated by an RNA polymerase elongating complex induces positive DNA supercoiling in the region ahead of the complex and negative supercoiling in its wake. These transitory changes in supercoiling are resolved by the action of topoisomerases. We have investigated the role of Topo II in dosage compensation by RNAi-mediated depletion, and we have used chromatin immunoprecipitation to determine its genomic distribution and relative abundance on X-linked genes. Topo II is enriched on dosage compensated genes and this enrichment is independent from the approximate two-fold enhancement in transcription of these genes. We have demonstrated an RNA-dependent association of Topo II with MLE, the ATPase-helicase subunit of the MSL complex. Our results indicate a role for Topo II that is additional to and different from its function in restoring normal DNA superhelicity during the transcription process. We suggest that the enhanced level of Topo II alters the DNA supercoiling of compensated gene units to facilitate transcription and could provide a basis for the recent report that the MSL complex enhances transcription by increasing the rate of elongation of RNA polymerase II. Investigation of dosage compensated gene expression levels in S2 and S2 Topo II RNAi knockdown cells. mRNA was isolated from S2 cells and S2 cells with RNAi knockdown of Topo II. The mRNA was then converted to cDNA and hybridized to a NimbleGen D. melanogaster gene expression array. 2 replicates each.

Dataset Information

Topoisomerase II is required for the proper separation of heterochromatic regions during Drosophila melanogaster female meiosis.

Publications

Topoisomerase II is required for the proper separation of heterochromatic regions during Drosophila melanogaster female meiosis.

Similar Datasets

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