Interference Length reveals regularity of crossover placement across species

Abstract

Crossover interference is a phenomenon that affects the number and positioning of crossovers in meiosis and thus affects genetic diversity and chromosome segregation. Yet, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood, partly because quantification is difficult. To overcome this challenge, we introduce the interference length that quantifies changes in crossover patterning due to interference. We show that it faithfully captures known aspects of crossover interference and provides superior statistical power over previous methods. We apply our analysis to empirical data and unveil a similar behavior of the interference length across species, which hints at a common mechanism. A recently proposed coarsening model generally captures these aspects, providing a unified view of crossover interference. Consequently, the interference length facilitates model refinements and general comparisons between alternative models of crossover interference.