Meiotic behavior analysis of a balanced reciprocal translocation in the pig

ABSTRACT: Balanced constitutional reciprocal translocations are the most common structural chromosomal rearrangements identified in man and pigs. Carriers are generally phenotypically normal, but such rearrangements frequently lead to reproductive disorders. In reciprocal translocation heterozygotes, the homologous regions of the normal and derivative chromosomes involved in the rearrangement pair during the prophase of the first meiotic division, thanks to the synaptonemal complex (SC), and form a particular structure called quadrivalent. In some cases, chromosomal regions (within the quadrivalent) remain unsynapsed, especially around the breakpoints, which may trigger meiosis checkpoints leading to spermatogenesis arrest at the pachytene stage. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain such effects of pairing failure on gametogenesis. The first one is an altered transcription of the genes located on the unpaired segments. Indeed, studies conducted in mice revealed a transcriptional repression of unpaired regions by a specific mechanism called “Meiotic Silencing of Unsynapsed Chromatin” (MSUC) in individuals with a partial or total spermatogenesis arrest (Turner et al., 2005). If some genes necessary for the proper course of meiosis are located in such unsynapsed genomic regions, MSUC may result in an arrest of the meiotic division. Secondly, associations between the “quadrivalent” and the XY bivalent which is transcriptionally silenced by a phenomenon known as meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI, (Turner, 2007) were also observed in individuals with altered semen parameters (azoospermic or oligospemic) (Oliver-Bonet et al., 2005; Sciurano et al., 2007a, 2012). Such an association could result in a partial reactivation of the XY body (XYB) leading to the expression of some genes located on the X chromosome (Lifschytz and Lindsley, 1972), or result in the spreading of the XYB inactivation towards the autosomal segments attached to the XYB, without reactivation of the latter (Jaafar et al., 1993). Beyond the potential spermatogenesis failure mentioned above, reciprocal translocations are systematically responsible for the production of genetically unbalanced gametes. Here we report the detailed analysis of the whole meiotic process (from spermatocytes to spermatozoa) in the case of a constitutional balanced reciprocal translocation responsible for severe oligoasthenoteratospermia.

ORGANISM(S): Sus scrofa

PROVIDER: GSE80693 | GEO | 2016/06/30

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA319717

REPOSITORIES: GEO