title: Caenorhabditis elegans prom-1 is required for meiotic prophase progression and homologous chromosome pairing.
abstract: A novel gene, prom-1, was isolated in a screen for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with increased apoptosis in the germline. prom-1 encodes an F-box protein with limited homology to the putative human tumor suppressor FBXO47. Mutations in the prom-1 locus cause a strong reduction in bivalent formation, which results in increased embryonic lethality and a Him phenotype. Furthermore, retarded and asynchronous nuclear reorganization as well as reduced homologous synapsis occur during meiotic prophase. Accumulation of recombination protein RAD-51 in meiotic nuclei suggests disturbed repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. Nuclei in prom-1 mutant gonads timely complete mitotic proliferation and premeiotic replication, but they undergo prolonged delay upon meiotic entry. We, therefore, propose that prom-1 regulates the timely progression through meiotic prophase I and that in its absence the recognition of homologous chromosomes is strongly impaired.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chromosome Biology and Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jantsch
authors.forename: Lois
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pasierbek
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penkner
authors.forename: Sudhir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baudrimont
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schedl
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gartner
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loidl
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D023902:Chromosome Pairing / Q000235:genetics*; D044783:F-Box Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005303:Fertility Agents, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011418:Prophase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D044783:F-Box Proteins; D005303:Fertility Agents, Male; C506262:Htp-1 protein, C elegans; C527326:PROM-1 protein, C elegans