X-chromosome silencing in the germline ofC. elegans

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2002 papers

Abstract

Germline maintenance in the nematode C. elegans requires global repressive mechanisms that involve chromatin organization. During meiosis, the X chromosome in both sexes exhibits a striking reduction of histone modifications that correlate with transcriptional activation when compared with the genome as a whole. The histone modification spectrum on the X chromosome corresponds with a lack of transcriptional competence, as measured by reporter transgene arrays. The X chromosome in XO males is structurally analogous to the sex body in mammals, contains a histone modification associated with heterochromatin in other species and is inactivated throughout meiosis. The synapsed X chromosomes in hermaphrodites also appear to be silenced in early meiosis, but genes on the X chromosome are detectably expressed at later stages of oocyte meiosis. Silencing of the sex chromosome during early meiosis is a conserved feature throughout the nematode phylum, and is not limited to hermaphroditic species.

Related Papers

• → Heterologous synapsis in C. elegans is regulated by meiotic double-strand breaks and crossovers(2021)6 cited
• → When specialized sites are important for synapsis and the distribution of crossovers(2007)10 cited
• → Nonhomologous synapsis of the XY during early pachynema in In(X)1H male mice(1987)6 cited
• [The pairing, synapsis and recombination of meiosis in plant].(2010)
• → Heterologous synapsis in C. elegans is regulated by meiotic double-strand breaks and crossovers(2021)