title: Chromosome pairing and synapsis during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis.
abstract: Meiosis is the specialized cell division cycle that produces haploid gametes to enable sexual reproduction. Reduction of chromosome number by half requires elaborate chromosome dynamics that occur in meiotic prophase to establish physical linkages between each pair of homologous chromosomes. Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as an excellent model organism for molecular studies of meiosis, enabling investigators to combine the power of molecular genetics, cytology, and live analysis. Here we focus on recent studies that have shed light on how chromosomes find and identify their homologous partners, and the structural changes that accompany and mediate these interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, United States.
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rog
authors.forename: Abby F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dernburg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D023902:Chromosome Pairing; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D008540:Meiosis; D013569:Synapses
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins