Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
+ mouse subspecies, + speciation, + Prdm9, + meiotic recombination and chromosome pairing, + synaptonemal complex, + X-chromosome inactivation
We have mapped the hybrid sterility locus Hst1 in the genome of Mus musculus subspecies. Our study was followed by a wave of genetic studies on hybrid sterility in mice from the laboratories in Europe, USA and Japan. Our founding paper on mechanisms of speciation in being cited to date. [pubmed] [doi]
The significance of our Prdm9 discovery as a “speciation gene” has been commented in various media and prestigious scientific journals such as Nature and Science. [pubmed] [doi]
We have found that in a genome composed of two mouse subspecies, meiotic synapsis and recombination of homologous chromosomes depend strictly on their subspecies origin and the combination of Prdm9 alleles. This finding provides the basis for the hypothesis of Prdm9-controlled chromosomal hybrid sterility. [pubmed] [doi]
