Divergence and conservation of the meiotic recombination machinery Review


Authors: Arter, M.; Keeney, S.
Review Title: Divergence and conservation of the meiotic recombination machinery
Abstract: Sexually reproducing eukaryotes use recombination between homologous chromosomes to promote chromosome segregation during meiosis. Meiotic recombination is almost universally conserved in its broad strokes, but specific molecular details often differ considerably between taxa, and the proteins that constitute the recombination machinery show substantial sequence variability. The extent of this variation is becoming increasingly clear because of recent increases in genomic resources and advances in protein structure prediction. We discuss the tension between functional conservation and rapid evolutionary change with a focus on the proteins that are required for the formation and repair of meiotic DNA double-strand breaks. We highlight phylogenetic relationships on different time scales and propose that this remarkable evolutionary plasticity is a fundamental property of meiotic recombination that shapes our understanding of molecular mechanisms in reproductive biology. © Springer Nature Limited 2023.
Keywords: genetics; meiosis; homologous recombination; dna repair; dna breaks, double-stranded; double stranded dna break; phylogeny
Journal Title: Nature Reviews Genetics
Volume: 25
Issue: 5
ISSN: 1471-0056
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2024-05-01
Start Page: 309
End Page: 325
Language: English
DOI: 10.1038/s41576-023-00669-8
PUBMED: 38036793
PROVIDER: scopus
DOI/URL:
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in PDF. Corresponding MSK author is Scott Keeney -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Scott N Keeney
    138 Keeney
  2. Meret Regula Arter
    5 Arter