X-chromosome silencing in the germline ofC. elegans
10.1242/dev.129.2.479
Crossref journal-article
The Company of Biologists
Development (237)
Abstract

Germline maintenance in the nematode C. elegans requires global repressive mechanisms that involve chromatin organization. During meiosis, the X chromosome in both sexes exhibits a striking reduction of histone modifications that correlate with transcriptional activation when compared with the genome as a whole. The histone modification spectrum on the X chromosome corresponds with a lack of transcriptional competence, as measured by reporter transgene arrays. The X chromosome in XO males is structurally analogous to the sex body in mammals, contains a histone modification associated with heterochromatin in other species and is inactivated throughout meiosis. The synapsed X chromosomes in hermaphrodites also appear to be silenced in early meiosis, but genes on the X chromosome are detectably expressed at later stages of oocyte meiosis. Silencing of the sex chromosome during early meiosis is a conserved feature throughout the nematode phylum, and is not limited to hermaphroditic species.

Bibliography

Kelly, W. G., Schaner, C. E., Dernburg, A. F., Lee, M.-H., Kim, S. K., Villeneuve, A. M., & Reinke, V. (2002). X-chromosome silencing in the germline ofC. elegans. Development, 129(2), 479–492.

Authors 7
  1. William G. Kelly (first)
  2. Christine E. Schaner (additional)
  3. Abby F. Dernburg (additional)
  4. Min-Ho Lee (additional)
  5. Stuart K. Kim (additional)
  6. Anne M. Villeneuve (additional)
  7. Valerie Reinke (additional)
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Dates
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Created 4 years, 4 months ago (April 25, 2021, 9:23 a.m.)
Deposited 2 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 25, 2022, 6:27 a.m.)
Indexed 1 month ago (July 24, 2025, 7:40 a.m.)
Issued 23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 2002)
Published 23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 2002)
Published Print 23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 2002)
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@article{Kelly_2002, title={X-chromosome silencing in the germline ofC. elegans}, volume={129}, ISSN={0950-1991}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.129.2.479}, DOI={10.1242/dev.129.2.479}, number={2}, journal={Development}, publisher={The Company of Biologists}, author={Kelly, William G. and Schaner, Christine E. and Dernburg, Abby F. and Lee, Min-Ho and Kim, Stuart K. and Villeneuve, Anne M. and Reinke, Valerie}, year={2002}, month=jan, pages={479–492} }