Temporal and spatial distribution of Rad51 protein in spermatocytes of the common shrew Sorex araneus L. (Soricidae, Eulipotyphla)

Karamysheva T.V., Belonogova N.M., Rodionova M.I., Rubtsov N.B., Polyakov A.V., Searle J.B., Borodin P.M.

P. 015-019

Chromosome pairing and recombination at meiosis involves scheduled formation and repair of double-strand breaks of DNA. Rad51, the eukaryotic homologue of the bacterial RecA protein, plays a crucial role in these processes. We used antibodies against human Rad51 to examine the temporal and spatial distribution of Rad51 in the spermatocytes of the common shrew Sorex araneus (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae). We found that hundreds of Rad51 foci appeared at leptotene. At the beginning of zygotene their close association with the axial elements of the synaptonemal complex became apparent. From early to late zygotene the number of Rad51 foci gradually decreased. At pachytene we observed a further dramatic decrease in the number of foci. They were distributed irregularly along autosomal bivalents. We detected a prevalence of Rad51 signals on the original X and autosomal arms of the sex trivalent at late pachytene. We did not detect a preferential association of Rad51 foci with unpaired or non-homologously paired regions of lateral elements of synaptonemal complexes in Robertsonian multivalents.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.6.1.04

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