Sexual dimorphic regulation of recombination by the synaptonemal complex

Abstract

In sexually reproducing organisms, germ cells faithfully transmit the genome to the next generation by forming haploid gametes, such as eggs and sperm. Although most meiotic proteins are conserved between eggs and sperm, many aspects of meiosis are sexually dimorphic. The mechanisms regulating recombination display sex-specific differences in multiple organisms such that the same proteins in each sex are being utilized in different ways to produce sexually dimorphic outcomes. The synaptonemal complex (SC), a large ladder-like structure that forms between homologous chromosomes, is essential for regulating meiotic chromosome organization and promoting recombination. To assess whether sex-specific differences in the SC underpin sexually dimorphic aspects of meiosis, we examined two Caenorhabditis elegans SC central region proteins, SYP-2 and SYP-3, in oogenesis and spermatogenesis and uncovered sex-specific roles for the SYPs in regulating meiotic recombination. We find that SC composition is regulated by sex-specific mechanisms throughout meiotic prophase I. During pachytene, both oocytes and spermatocytes differentially regulate the stability of SYP-2 and SYP-3 within an assembled SC, with increased SYP-2 dynamics in spermatocytes and increased SYP-3 dynamics in oocytes. Further, we uncover that the relative amount of SYP-2 and SYP-3 within the SC is independently regulated in both a sex-specific and a recombination-dependent manner. Specifically, we find that SYP-2 regulates the early steps of recombination in both sexes, while SYP-3 controls the timing and positioning of crossover recombination events across the genomic landscape in only oocytes. Taken together, we demonstrate dosage-dependent regulation of individual SC components with sex-specific functions in recombination. These sexual dimorphic features of the SC provide insights into how spermatogenesis and oogenesis adapted similar chromosome structures to differentially regulate and execute recombination.