Formation and resolution of meiotic chromosome entanglements and interlocks.

Interactions between parental chromosomes during the formation of gametes can lead to entanglements, entrapments and interlocks between unrelated chromosomes. If unresolved, these topological constraints can lead to misregulation of exchanges between chromosomes and to chromosome mis-segregation. Interestingly, these configurations are largely resolved by the time parental chromosomes are aligned during pachytene. In this Review, we highlight the inevitability of topologically complex configurations and discuss possible mechanisms to resolve them. We focus on the dynamic nature of a conserved chromosomal interface - the synaptonemal complex - and the chromosome movements that accompany meiosis as potential mechanisms to resolve topological constraints. We highlight the advantages of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans for understanding biophysical features of the chromosome axis and synaptonemal complex that could contribute to mechanisms underlying interlock resolution. In addition, we highlight advantages of using the zebrafish, Danio rerio, as a model to understand how entanglements and interlocks are avoided and resolved.

In Vitro Storage of Functional Sperm at Room Temperature in Zebrafish and Medaka.

The longevity of sperm in teleost such as zebrafish and medaka is short when isolated even in saline-balanced solution at a physiological temperature. In contrast, some internal fertilizers exhibit the long-term storage of sperm, >10 months, in the female reproductive tract. This evidence implies that sperm in teleost possesses the ability to survive for a long time under suitable conditions; however, these conditions are not well understood. In this study, we show that the sperm of zebrafish can survive and maintain fertility in L-15-based storage medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin, fetal bovine serum, glucose, and lactic acid for 28 days at room temperature. The fertilized embryos developed to normal fertile adults. This storage medium was effective in medaka sperm stored for 7 days at room temperature. These results suggest that sperm from external fertilizer zebrafish and medaka has the ability to survive for at least 4 and 1 week, respectively, in the body fluid-like medium at a physiological temperature. This sperm storage method allows researchers to ship sperm by low-cost methods and to investigate key factors for motility and fertile ability in those sperm.

When the anchor's away, meiotic telomeres go astray.

During meiosis, microtubules emanate from the centrosome to cluster telomeres in the bouquet configuration and facilitate chromosome pairing. In a recent issue of Science, Mytlis et al. establish that a cilium in zebrafish anchors the centrosome and is important for telomere clustering and germ cell development.

Meiotic Chromosome Dynamics in Zebrafish.

Recent studies in zebrafish have revealed key features of meiotic chromosome dynamics, including clustering of telomeres in the bouquet configuration, biogenesis of chromosome axis structures, and the assembly and disassembly of the synaptonemal complex that aligns homologs end-to-end. The telomere bouquet stage is especially pronounced in zebrafish meiosis and sub-telomeric regions play key roles in mediating pairing and homologous recombination. In this review, we discuss the temporal progression of these events in meiosis prophase I and highlight the roles of proteins associated with meiotic chromosome architecture in homologous recombination. Finally, we discuss the interplay between meiotic mutants and gonadal sex differentiation and future research directions to study meiosis in living cells, including cell culture.

Rad21l1 cohesin subunit is dispensable for spermatogenesis but not oogenesis in zebrafish.

During meiosis I, ring-shaped cohesin complexes play important roles in aiding the proper segregation of homologous chromosomes. RAD21L is a meiosis-specific vertebrate cohesin that is required for spermatogenesis in mice but is dispensable for oogenesis in young animals. The role of this cohesin in other vertebrate models has not been explored. Here, we tested if the zebrafish homolog Rad21l1 is required for meiotic chromosome dynamics during spermatogenesis and oogenesis. We found that Rad21l1 localizes to unsynapsed chromosome axes. It is also found between the axes of the mature tripartite synaptonemal complex (SC) in both sexes. We knocked out rad21l1 and found that nearly all rad21l1-/- mutants develop as fertile males, suggesting that the mutation causes a defect in juvenile oogenesis, since insufficient oocyte production triggers female to male sex reversal in zebrafish. Sex reversal was partially suppressed by mutation of the checkpoint gene tp53, suggesting that the rad21l1 mutation activates Tp53-mediated apoptosis or arrest in females. This response, however, is not linked to a defect in repairing Spo11-induced double-strand breaks since deletion of spo11 does not suppress the sex reversal phenotype. Compared to tp53 single mutant controls, rad21l1-/- tp53-/- double mutant females produce poor quality eggs that often die or develop into malformed embryos. Overall, these results indicate that the absence of rad21l1-/- females is due to a checkpoint-mediated response and highlight a role for a meiotic-specific cohesin subunit in oogenesis but not spermatogenesis.

Preparation of Meiotic Chromosome Spreads from Zebrafish Spermatocytes.

Meiosis is the key cellular process required to create haploid gametes for sexual reproduction. Model organisms have been instrumental in understanding the chromosome events that take place during meiotic prophase, including the pairing, synapsis, and recombination events that ensure proper chromosome segregation. While the mouse has been an important model for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, not all meiotic events in this system are analogous to human meiosis. We recently demonstrated the exciting potential of the zebrafish as a model of human spermatogenesis. Here we describe, in detail, our methods to visualize meiotic chromosomes and associated proteins in chromosome spread preparations. These preparations have the advantage of allowing high resolution analysis of chromosome structures. First, we describe the procedure for dissecting testes from adult zebrafish, followed by cell dissociation, lysis, and spreading of the chromosomes. Next, we describe the procedure for detecting the localization of meiotic chromosome proteins, by immunofluorescence detection, and nucleic acid sequences, by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). These techniques comprise a useful set of tools for the cytological analysis of meiotic chromatin architecture in the zebrafish system. Researchers in the zebrafish community should be able to quickly master these techniques and incorporate them into their standard analyses of reproductive function.