Regulation of meiotic recombination

Two COs?

One CO?

The formation of crossovers (CO) during meiosis shuffles genes and ensures homologous chromosomes are accurately segregated. Inaccurate segregation can lead to aneuploidy in progeny or infertility. Interestingly, 10-fold more DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) form than COs in most species. How DSBs are designated to become COs is still unknown. We are utilizing two distantly related moths (silkworm moth and pantry moth) to study CO formation in meiosis. We are investigating differences in the CO regulation pathways between these moths using a combination of genomics, proteomics, and cytology. These studies will shed light on the overall process of CO formation and designation with the goal of identifying therapeutic targets for humans with infertility related to defects in CO formation.