Regulation of meiotic recombination and prophase I progression in mammals

Meiosis is the process by which diploid germ cells divide to produce haploi d gametes for sexual reproduction. The process is highly conserved in eukar yotes, however the recent availability of mouse models for meiotic recombin ation has revealed surprising regulatory differences between simple unicell ular organisms and those with increasingly complex genomes. Moreover, in th ese higher eukaryotes, the intervention of physiological and sex-specific f actors may also influence how meiotic recombination and progression are mon itored and regulated. This review will focus on the recent studies involvin g mouse mutants for meiosis, and will highlight important differences betwe en traditional model systems for meiosis (such as yeast) and those involvin g more complex cellular, physiological and genetic criteria. BioEssays 23:9 96-1009, 2001. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.