Multiple synaptonemal complexes (polycomplexes) in wild-type hermaphroditic Caenorhabditis elegans and their absence in males

作者：Goldstein Paul^*

来源：Russian Journal of Nematology, 2013, 21(2): 73-81.

• Synaptonemal complex
• Polycomplexes
• Caenorhabditis elegans
• nematode
• meiosis
• pachytene

Synaptonemal complexes are highly conserved in structure and function throughout evolution. Aggregates of these structures form a superstructure known as a Multiple Synaptonemal Complex or Polycomplex (PC). They have been described in over 70 organisms throughout all life forms including nematodes. During the stages of leptotene and zygotene, chromatin-like material, known as Extranuclear Fibrillar Material (FM), has an affinity for the nuclear envelope (NE). The FM appears inside the NE at pachytene and is closely associated with the telomeres and axial cores of the SCs. The existence of PCs in XX Wild-type hermaphrodites of Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as other organisms, are restricted to meiotic and germ-line derived tissues. Although PCs may be present prior to or after SC formation in other nematodes, e.g., Ascaris, their formation and function are different at each stage. In C. elegans, PCs were observed only prior to pachytene, at the leptotene/zygotene interface, and disappeared afterwards. The structure and biochemical composition of PCs is similar to SCs such that the basic unit is tripartite, consisting of two lateral elements and a central region, within which transverse elements exist. The SYP-1 protein, localised in the central element of SCS in C. elegans, along with HTP-1 and HAL-2, are integral to the highly organised structure of the PCs. PCs were not observed in the XO male of C. elegans, inferring different levels of control of the pairing of homologous chromosomes and attachment to the nuclear envelope during meiotic prophase.

• 出版日期2013