PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Liangyu Zhang
AU  - Simone Köhler
AU  - Regina Rillo-Bohn
AU  - Abby F. Dernburg
TI  - A compartmentalized, self-extinguishing signaling network mediates crossover control in meiosis
AID  - 10.1101/168948
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 168948
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/26/168948.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/26/168948.full
AB  - Meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes is tightly regulated to ensure proper chromosome segregation. Each chromosome pair typically undergoes at least one crossover event (crossover assurance) but these exchanges are also strictly limited in number and widely spaced along chromosomes (crossover interference). This has implied the existence of chromosome-wide signals that regulate crossovers, but their molecular basis remains mysterious. Here we characterize a family of four related RING finger proteins in C. elegans. These proteins are recruited to the synaptonemal complex between paired homologs, where they act as two heterodimeric complexes, likely as E3 ubiquitin ligases. Genetic and cytological analysis reveals that they act with additional components to create a self-extinguishing circuit that controls crossover designation and maturation. These proteins also act at the top of a hierarchical chromosome remodeling process that enables crossovers to direct stepwise segregation. Work in diverse phyla indicates that related mechanisms mediate crossover control across eukaryotes.