It starts at the ends: The zebrafish meiotic bouquet is where it all begins

The Male Mouse Meiotic Cilium Emanates from the Mother Centriole at Zygotene Prior to Centrosome Duplication

Cilia are hair-like projections of the plasma membrane with an inner microtubule skeleton known as axoneme. Motile cilia and flagella beat to displace extracellular fluids, playing important roles in the airways and reproductive system. On the contrary, primary cilia function as cell-type-dependent sensory organelles, detecting chemical, mechanical, or optical signals from the extracellular environment. Cilia dysfunction is associated with genetic diseases called ciliopathies and with some types of cancer. Cilia have been recently identified in zebrafish gametogenesis as an important regulator of bouquet conformation and recombination. However, there is little information about the structure and functions of cilia in mammalian meiosis. Here we describe the presence of cilia in male mouse meiotic cells. These solitary cilia formed transiently in 20% of zygotene spermatocytes and reached considerable lengths (up to 15-23 µm). CEP164 and CETN3 localization studies indicated that these cilia emanate from the mother centriole prior to centrosome duplication. In addition, the study of telomeric TFR2 suggested that cilia are not directly related to the bouquet conformation during early male mouse meiosis. Instead, based on TEX14 labeling of intercellular bridges in spermatocyte cysts, we suggest that mouse meiotic cilia may have sensory roles affecting cyst function during prophase I.

OsRAD51D promotes homologous pairing and recombination by preventing nonhomologous interactions in rice meiosis

Homologous recombination is carefully orchestrated to maintain genome integrity. RAD51D has been previously shown to be essential for double-strand break repair in mammalian somatic cells. However, the function of RAD51D during meiosis is largely unknown. Here, through detailed analyses of Osrad51d single and double mutants, we pinpoint the specific function of OsRAD51D in coordinating homologous pairing and recombination by preventing nonhomologous interactions during meiosis. OsRAD51D is associated with telomeres in both meiocytes and somatic cells. Loss of OsRAD51D leads to significant induction of nonhomologous pairing and chromosome entanglements, suggesting its role in suppressing nonhomologous interactions. The failed localization of OsRAD51 and OsDMC1 in Osrad51d, together with the genetic analysis of Osrad51d Osdmc1a Osdmc1b, indicates that OsRAD51D acts at a very early stage of homologous recombination. Observations from the Osrad51d pair1 and Osrad51d ku70 double mutants further demonstrate that nonhomologous interactions require double-strand break formation but do not depend on the KU70-mediated repair pathway. Moreover, the interplay between OsRAD51D and OsRAD51C indicates both conservation and divergence of their functions in meiosis. Altogether, this work reveals that OsRAD51D plays an essential role in the inhibition of nonhomologous connections, thus guaranteeing faithful pairing and recombination during meiosis.