The Cdk1/Cdk2 homolog CDKA;1 controls the recombination landscape in Arabidopsis

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820753116
• Publication Date: 2019-06-04T21:45:13Z
• Authors: Erik Wijnker; Hirofumi Harashima; Katja Müller; Pablo Parra-Nuñez; C. Bastiaan de Snoo; Jose van de Belt; Nico Dissmeyer; Martin Bayer; Monica Pradillo; Arp Schnittger
• Keywords: Meiotic recombination; Recombination, Genetic; 0301 basic medicine; 2409 Genética; Arabidopsis Proteins; Crossovers; Botánica; Cyclin-dependent kinase; Botánica (Biología); Arabidopsis; Biological Sciences; Cross-over interference; Genética; Class I crossovers; Chromosomes, Plant; Cyclin-Dependent Kinases; Meiosis; 03 medical and health sciences; 581.15; 2417.03 Botánica General; Crossing Over, Genetic; Alleles; Class

Significance Cyclin-dependent kinases are the main drivers of the mitotic cell cycle. Here, we show that the activity of the main cell-cycle regulator in the model plant Arabidopsis, CDKA;1, also governs one of the most important processes in meiosis: the formation of meiotic cross-overs. We show that CDKA;1 activity especially affects the major class of meiotic cross-overs, known as class I cross-overs. We find that lowering kinase activity leads to a progressive loss of cross-overs, of which cross-overs near the chromosome ends are the last to disappear. Conversely, an increase of kinase activity increases the rate of cross-over formation.