| Kim S. McKim
Professor
Rutgers University
Dept. of Genetics
Waksman Institute
Piscataway. NJ 08854
(732) 445-1164
FAX - 5735
mckim@rci.rutgers.edu |
Double strand break repair. genetic
recombination. chromosome pairing. chromosome segregation. kinesin motor proteins
Meiotic crossing over provides a linkage between homologous chromosomes that
directs their segregation at the first meiotic or reductional division. The
homologous chromosomes are aligned and held together along their length by the
synaptonemal complex (SC) and recombination is initiated with a double strand
break (DSB). Repair of the DSBs results in either gene-conversion or crossing
over. In the absence of recombination, homologous chromosomes do not segregate
properly, resulting in aneuploidy and usually death of the embryo. In certain
cases, these aneuploids survive; in humans, this results in syndromes such as
Down's, Turner's and Klinefelter's.
Research in the laboratory is directed at understanding meiosis in Drosophila
melanogaster females. Our studies include several important aspects of
meiotic pathway including: i) the pairing of homologous chromosomes. ii) the
initiation of meiotic recombination (DSBs). iii) the repair of DSBs. and iv) the
mechanism of homologous chromosomes segregation. These studies include several
important and conserved genes such as Spo11, which is required to make meiotic
DSBs, Rad51 homologs, which are required to repair DSBs, and kinesin-like
proteins, which are motor proteins that function in moving and separating
chromosomes at the meiotic divisions. Many of the important genes in this
process are also involved in DNA repair or the fidelity of chromosome division
in other cell types. Therefore, these studies will likely provide insights into
the factors affecting genome stability and cancer in mitotic cells.
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