title: Shaping meiotic chromosomes with SUMO: a feedback loop controls the assembly of the synaptonemal complex in budding yeast.
abstract: The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a meiosis-specific chromosomal structure in which homologous chromosomes are intimately linked through arrays of specialized proteins called transverse filaments (TF). Widely conserved in eukaryote meiosis, the SC forms during prophase I and is essential for accurate segregation of homologous chromosomes at meiosis I. However, the basic mechanism overlooking formation and regulation of the SC has been poorly understood. By using the budding yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae, we recently showed that SC formation is controlled through the attachment of multiple molecules of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) to a regulator of TF assembly. Intriguingly, this SUMOylation is activated by TF, implicating the involvement of a positive feedback loop in the control of SC assembly. We discuss the implication of this finding and possible involvement of a similar mechanism in regulating other processes.
authors.affiliation: Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN19RQ, UK.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi
authors.affiliation: Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN19RQ, UK.
authors.forename: Bilge
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Argunhan
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi
keywords: SUMO; SUMOylation; budding yeast; chromosome; homologous recombination; meiosis; the synaptonemal complex