Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 29: Statistical Physics of Biological Systems II (joint session BP/DY)
BP 29.1: Talk
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 09:30–09:45, H 1028
Coarsening model explains cross-species universality of crossover interference — •Marcel Ernst1, Raphael Mercier2, and David Zwicker1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Am Faßberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
During meiosis, crossovers between female and male chromosomes mix genetic information. Experimental observations consistently produce two important results: First, the number of crossovers per chromosome is at least one and usually small, ranging from one to three. Second, there is crossover interference, which prevents nearby crossovers on a single chromosome. In this talk, I will present a novel quantification of crossover interference, which reveals a universal behavior across multiple species. This behavior is consistent with a recently proposed model, where biomolecular condensates that coarsen by exchanging material along chromosomes determine crossover positions. This process is disrupted in mutants lacking the axial structure connecting chromosome pairs, leading to strongly reduced interference. To explain that behavior, I will also present an extension of the coarsening model, which includes material exchange with the surrounding nucleoplasm. The modified coarsening dynamics provide a more detailed description of all experimental data and unveil the physical mechanism of crossover interference.
Keywords: Coarsening; Meiosis; Biomolecular condensates