Rewiring for movements in meiotic prophase: regulators, roles, and evolutionary pathways

Abstract

Meiotic prophase movement and chromosome bouquet formation are highly conserved processes and essential features of meiosis, yet their functional components and dependencies vary among organisms. A key feature of meiotic prophase is that chromosome regions like telomeres or centromeres become physically tethered to the inner nuclear membrane through a hierarchical and sequential arrangement of proteins. Telomeres or their analogs further interact with the cytoskeletal machinery, which provides the necessary mechanical force to execute the chromosomal movements that enable homologous pairing, synapsis, and meiotic recombination. Despite decades of research, our understanding of these processes, their interdependencies, and their precise role remains incomplete. Here, we summarize the current mechanistic understanding and describe avenues for further exploration.