High impact information on Dmc1

• Meiotic chromosome analysis of Dmc1-deficient mouse spermatocytes revealed random spread of univalent axial elements without correct pairing between homologs [1].
• The mouse RecA-like gene Dmc1 is required for homologous chromosome synapsis during meiosis [1].
• We have generated a null mutation in the Dmc1 gene in mice and show that homozygous mutant males and females are sterile with arrest of gametogenesis in the first meiotic prophase [2].
• Meiotic prophase arrest with failure of chromosome synapsis in mice deficient for Dmc1, a germline-specific RecA homolog [2].
• The strong similarity of phenotypes in Dmc1-deficient mice and yeast suggests that meiotic mechanisms have been highly conserved through evolution [2].

Biological context of Dmc1

• The presence of Rad51 and/or Lim15 proteins in early nodules supports the hypothesis that early nodules are involved in recombination-related events during meiosis [3].
• Thus, the mouse Dmc1 gene is required for homologous synapsis of chromosomes in meiosis [1].
• In female mice lacking the Dmc1 gene, normal differentiation of oogenesis was aborted in embryos, and germ cells disappeared in the adult ovary [1].
• This progression may relate to compensatory gene function(s) and/or the observed up-regulation of DNA repair proteins Rad51 and Dmc1 [4].
• The Lim15 protein, instead, may be involved in recombination in the telomeric region or in cohesion of sister chromatids for segregation [5].

Regulatory relationships of Dmc1

• 5. Consistent with these results, we find that embryonic ovarian germ cells upregulate the meiotic gene Dmc1 and downregulate the Oct4 transcription factor in an anterior-to-posterior wave [6].

Other interactions of Dmc1

• Insignificant changes of bouquet frequencies in mice with defects in early stages of DSB repair (Dmc1(-/-), Hop2(-/-)) suggest that there is an ATM-specific influence on bouquet stage duration [7].
• Rad51 and Dmc1 recombinases are the major players in these processes [8].
• Mei1 is epistatic to Dmc1 during mouse meiosis [9].
• Female PGCs obtained from UGRs or genital ridges at 10.5-11.5 dpc began to express meiosis-specific genes, Scp3 and Dmc1, after dissociation and cultivation on feeder cells for several days [10].

References