Translesion synthesis polymerases contribute to meiotic chromosome segregation and cohesin dynamics in S chizosaccharomyces pombe

Abstract

Translesion synthesis polymerases (TLSPs) are non-essential error-prone enzymes that ensure cell survival by facilitating DNA replication in the presence of DNA damage. In addition to their role in bypassing lesions, TLSPs have been implicated in meiotic doublestrand break repair in several systems. Here, we examine the joint contribution of four TLSPs to meiotic progression in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We observed a dramatic loss of spore viability in fission yeast lacking all four TLSPs, which is accompanied by disruptions in chromosome segregation during meiosis I and II. Rec8 cohesin dynamics are altered in the absence of the TLSPs. These data suggest that the TLSPs contribute to multiple aspects of meiotic chromosome dynamics.

A visual atlas of meiotic protein dynamics in living fission yeast

“…The emergence of Sgo1-GFP foci, approximately an hour before metaphase I are consistent with its role as protector of centromeric Rec8 degradation prior to meiosis I (Ishiguro et al, 2010; Kitajima et al, 2004; Kitajima et al, 2006). Our data agree with other studies showing Rec8-GFP is removed from chromosome arms but not the centromere, where Sgo1 localization prevents cleavage (Ishiguro et al, 2010; Mastro et al, 2020).…”

“…This is consistent with the nuclear organization function of Rec8 during recombination and metaphase I condensation (Ding et al, 2004; Ding et al, 2006; Ding et al, 2016). We have shown previously that disruption of DNA replication dynamics changes the relative timing of Rec8 in these events (Escorcia and Forsburg, 2017; Le et al, 2013; Mastro and Forsburg, 2014; Mastro et al, 2020), making this a particularly sensitive marker for meiotic progression.…”

A visual atlas of meiotic protein dynamics in living fission yeast

“…The emergence of Sgo1-GFP foci approximately an hour before metaphase I is consistent with its role as protector of centromeric Rec8 degradation prior to meiosis I [53][54][55]. Our data agree with other studies showing that Rec8-GFP is removed from chromosome arms but not the centromere, where Sgo1 localization prevents cleavage [53,60]. Moa1 (monopolin), a meiosis-specific kinetochore protein, is required to establish monopolar attachment of sister chromatids during MI [27].…”

“…This is consistent with the nuclear organization function of Rec8 during recombination and metaphase I condensation [28,35,50]. We have shown previously that disruption of DNA replication dynamics changes the relative timing of Rec8 in these events [19,[58][59][60], making this a particularly sensitive marker for meiotic progression.…”