Overlapping and separable activities of BRA-2 and HIM-17 promote occurrence and regulation of pairing and synapsis during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis

Jitka Blazickova; Shalini Trivedi; Richard Bowman; Sowmya Sivakumar Geetha; Silma Subah; Michelle Scuzzarella; Alexander Chang; Uma R Chandran; Judith L Yanowitz; Sarit Smolikove; Verena Jantsch; Monique Zetka; Nicola Silva

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-57862-y

Back

Overlapping and separable activities of BRA-2 and HIM-17 promote occurrence and regulation of pairing and synapsis during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Overlapping and separable activities of BRA-2 and HIM-17 promote occurrence and regulation of pairing and synapsis during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis

Jitka Blazickova, Shalini Trivedi, Richard Bowman, Sowmya Sivakumar Geetha, Silma Subah, Michelle Scuzzarella, Alexander Chang, Uma R Chandran, Judith L Yanowitz, Sarit Smolikove, …

Nature communications, Vol.16(1), 2516

03/13/2025

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57862-y

PMCID: PMC11906835

PMID: 40082424

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57862-yView

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Faithful meiotic segregation requires pairwise alignment of the homologous chromosomes and their synaptonemal complex (SC) mediated stabilization. Here, we investigate factors that promote and coordinate these events during C. elegans meiosis. We identify BRA-2 (BMP Receptor Associated family member 2) as an interactor of HIM-17, previously shown to promote double-strand break formation. We found that loss of bra-2 impairs synapsis elongation without affecting homolog recognition, chromosome movement or SC maintenance. Epistasis analyses reveal previously unrecognized activities for HIM-17 in regulating homolog pairing and SC assembly in a partially overlapping manner with BRA-2. We show that removing bra-2 or him-17 restores nuclear clustering, recruitment of PLK-2 at the nuclear periphery, and abrogation of ectopic synapsis in htp-1 mutants, suggesting intact CHK-2-mediated signaling and presence of a barrier that prevents SC polymerization in the absence of homology. Our findings shed light on the regulatory mechanisms ensuring faithful pairing and synapsis.

Mutation

Animals

Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics

Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism

Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics

Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism

Cell Cycle Proteins - genetics

Cell Cycle Proteins - metabolism

Checkpoint Kinase 2

Chromosome Pairing

Chromosome Segregation

DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded

Meiosis

Polo-like Kinases

Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics

Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism

Synaptonemal Complex - genetics

Synaptonemal Complex - metabolism

Details

Title: Subtitle: Overlapping and separable activities of BRA-2 and HIM-17 promote occurrence and regulation of pairing and synapsis during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis
Creators: Jitka Blazickova - Masaryk University
Shalini Trivedi - Masaryk University
Richard Bowman - University of Iowa
Sowmya Sivakumar Geetha - Medical University of Vienna
Silma Subah - McGill University
Michelle Scuzzarella - Magee-Womens Research Institute
Alexander Chang - University of Pittsburgh
Uma R Chandran - University of Pittsburgh
Judith L Yanowitz - Magee-Womens Research Institute
Sarit Smolikove - University of Iowa
Verena Jantsch - Vienna Biocenter
Monique Zetka - McGill University
Nicola Silva - Masaryk University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Nature communications, Vol.16(1), 2516
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57862-y
PMID: 40082424
PMCID: PMC11906835
NLM abbreviation: Nat Commun
ISSN: 2041-1723
eISSN: 2041-1723
Publisher: NATURE PORTFOLIO
Grant note: GA23-04918S / Grantová Agentura České Republiky (Grant Agency of the Czech Republic)
Language: English
Date published: 03/13/2025
Academic Unit: Biology
Record Identifier: 9984799682202771

Metrics

7 Record Views

2 Times Cited - Web of Science