Identification and characterization of genes potentially involved in meiosis in Drosophila melanogaster males.

摘要

The process of meiosis is an essential mechanism in sexually reproducing organisms that allows the reduction of the genome size in gametes so that formation of a zygote from an egg and sperm leads to progeny with the proper chromosome complement. Although studies of the meiotic; process have allowed determination of the steps that occur to reduce the genome complement, identification of all the gene products involved is not yet complete. Important cellular pathways are often highly conserved during evolution. Therefore, it is helpful to gain an understanding of complicated processes by studying simple model organisms.;Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal system for the genetic study of processes such as meiosis. A few of the many attributes of this organism are its well defined genetics, small genome size, and short generation time. Although numerous screens to obtain meiotic mutants have been performed over the last twenty-five years, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about gene products that function in the various meiotic pathways. Therefore, these studies, performed in the lab of Dr. Bruce McKee at the University of Tennessee, represent additional attempts to identify factors involved in Drosophila meiosis.;Our search for Drosophila meiotic mutations has identified four genes that potentially act in meiosis. homeless is a gene initially identified by its female sterile phenotype and its role in oogenesis has been characterized. This study reports the finding that Homeless is also important in spermatogenesis. An additional factor, identified by observation of abnormal sex chromosome segregation in a deficiency stock, appears to affect both male and female meiosis. nondisjunction in males and females (nmf) causes chromosome nondisjunction in both sexes. We have identified two Drosophila homologs of the bacterial mismatch repair genes mutL, hexB, and yeast Pms1. Initial characterization supports meiotic roles for dmlh1 and dpms2, but identification and study of mutations in these genes is necessary to confirm participation of their products in meiosis.