MEICA1 (meiotic chromosome association1) interacts with TOP3α and regulates meiotic recombination in rice

Hu et al. found a sterile rice mutant defective in meiosis. They mapped it to MEICA1, a widely conserved but uncharacterized protein required to ensure crossovers occur between allelic regions of chromosomes. It also inhibits allelic homologous recombination. This adds to a suite of proteins eukaryotic organisms have to maintain genome integrity and ensure proper chromosomal segregation during meiosis. With a combination of genetics, yeast-2-hybird assays, and gorgeous immuno-localisations, they determined at least some of the proteins MEICA1 interacts with and where it functions as cells undergo meiosis. Plant Cell 10.1105/tpc.17.00241 (OA)