Needhi Bhalla: Chromosomes do the most amazing things

Meiotic cell division is a reductive process that halves the cell’s genetic complement in preparation for mating. While analogous to mitotic division, meiosis additionally involves the pairing and crossing-over of homologous chromosomes to generate additional genetic diversity in daughter cells. This is accomplished via a precisely choreographed chromosomal dance, with checkpoints in place to confirm successful completion of the major steps. Needhi Bhalla PHOTO COURTESY OF NEEDHI BHALLA Needhi Bhalla is enthralled with the elegant maneuvers that chromosomes execute during meiotic cell division. Her lab uses the nematode C. elegans to investigate how cells confirm (1) that their chromosomes have found and synapsed with their homologous partners during meiotic prophase (2–5). Among the molecular regulators of this process are some performers—better known for their roles in the mitotic spindle assembly checkpoint (4, 5)—that make new moves in meiosis, as we learned when we called Bhalla at her lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “Chromosomes do all this amazing stuff, yet how they do it is still so mysterious.”