Project description:During meiotic prophase, concurrent transcription, recombination, and chromosome synapsis place substantial topological strain on chromosomal DNA, but the role of topoisomerases in this context remains poorly defined. Here, we analyzed the roles topoisomerases I and II (Top1 and Top2) during meiotic prophase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that both topoisomerases accumulate primarily in promoter-containing intergenic regions of actively transcribing genes, including many meiotic double-strand break (DSB) hotspots. Despite the comparable binding patterns, top1 and top2 mutations have different effects on meiotic recombination. TOP1 disruption delays DSB induction and shortens the window of DSB accumulation by an unknown mechanism. By contrast, temperature-sensitive top2-1 mutants exhibit a marked delay in meiotic chromosome remodeling and elevated DSB signals on synapsed chromosomes. The problems in chromosome remodeling were linked to altered Top2 binding patterns rather than a loss of Top2 catalytic activity and stemmed from a defect in recruiting the chromosome remodeler Pch2/TRIP13 to synapsed chromosomes. No chromosomal defects were observed in the absence of TOP1. Our results imply independent roles for topoisomerases I and II in modulating meiotic chromosome structure and recombination.
Project description:Meiotic chromosomes assemble characteristic “axial element” structures that are essential for fertility and provide the chromosomal context for meiotic recombination, synapsis and checkpoint signaling. Whether these meiotic processes are equally dependent on axial element integrity has remained unclear. Here, we investigated this question in S. cerevisiae using the putative condensin allele ycs4S. We show that the severe axial element assembly defects of this allele are explained by a linked mutation in the promoter of the major axial element gene RED1 that reduces Red1 protein levels to 20-25% of wild type. Intriguingly, the Red1 levels of ycs4S mutants support meiotic processes linked to axis integrity, including DNA double-strand break formation and deposition of the synapsis protein Zip1, at levels that permit 70% gamete survival. By contrast, the ability to elicit a meiotic checkpoint arrest is completely eliminated. This selective loss of checkpoint function is supported by a RED1 dosage series and is associated with the loss of most of the cytologically detectable Red1 from the axial element. Our results indicate separable roles for Red1 in building the structural axis of meiotic chromosomes and mounting a sustained recombination checkpoint response.
Project description:We designed and synthesized synI, which is ~21.4% shorter than native chrI, the smallest chromosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. SynI was designed for attachment to another synthetic chromosome due to concerns surrounding potential instability and karyotype imbalance, and is now attached to synIII, yielding the first synthetic yeast fusion chromosome. We constructed additional fusion chromosomes to investigate effects of fusions on nuclear function. We observed unexpected loops and twisted structures in chrIII-I and chrIX-III-I fusion chromosomes dependent on silencing protein Sir3. ChrI faces special challenges in assuring meiotic crossovers required for efficient homolog disjunction. Centromere deletions engineered into fusion chromosomes revealed opposing effects of core centromeres and pericentromeres in modulating deposition of meiotic recombination protein Red1. These effects extended over >100kb, to disproportionally promote meiotic recombination of small chromosomes like chrI. These findings reveal the power of synthetic genomics to uncover new biology and deconvolute complex biological systems.
Project description:We used ChIP-seq to determine the whole-genome enrichment of histone H3 threonine 11 phosphorylation (H3 T11ph) during Saccharomyces cerevisiae meiosis. S. cerevisiae SK1 cells were synchronized for meiotic entry and 3 and 4 hour meiotic samples were obtained. As H3 T11ph is dependent on the formation of meiotic double strand breaks (DSBs), a negative control ChIP-seq sample was obtained from a strain lacking DSBs (spo11-yf). Concurrently, ChIP-seq was carried out for histone H3 as a control for comparision.
Project description:Successful meiotic recombination, and thus fertility, depends on conserved axis proteins that organize chromosomes into arrays of anchored chromatin loops and provide a protected environment for DNA exchange. Here, we show that the stereotypic chromosomal distribution of axis proteins in S. cerevisiae is the additive result of two independent pathways: a cohesin-dependent pathway, which was previously identified and mediates focal enrichment of axis proteins at gene ends, and a parallel cohesin-independent pathway that recruits axis proteins to broad genomic islands with high gene density. These islands exhibit elevated markers of crossover recombination as well as increased nucleosome density, which we show is a direct consequence of the underlying DNA sequence. A predicted PHD domain in the center of the axis factor Hop1 specifically mediates cohesin-independent axis recruitment. Intriguingly, other chromosome organizers, including cohesin, condensin, and topoisomerases, are differentially depleted from the same regions even in non-meiotic cells, indicating that these DNA sequence-defined chromatin islands exert a general influence on the patterning of chromosome structure.
Project description:Reduced dosage of the chromosome axis factor Red1 selectively disrupts the meiotic recombination checkpoint in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Project description:SPO11-promoted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) formation is a crucial step for meiotic recombination, and it is indispensable to detect the broken DNA ends accurately for dissecting the molecular mechanisms behind. Here, we report a novel technique, named DEtail-seq (DNA End tailing followed by sequencing), that can directly and quantitatively capture the meiotic DSB 3’ overhang hotspots at single-nucleotide resolution.