Linear Element-Independent Meiotic Recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Most organisms form protein-rich, linear, ladder-like structures associated with chromosomes during early meiosis, the synaptonemal complex. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, linear elements (LinEs) are thread-like, proteinacious chromosome-associated structures that form during early meiosis. LinEs are related to axial elements, the synaptonemal complex precursors of other organisms. Previous studies have led to the suggestion that axial structures are essential to mediate meiotic recombination. Rec10 protein is a major component of S. pombe LinEs and is required for their development. In this report we study recombination in a number of rec10 mutants, one of which (rec10-155) does not form LinEs, but is predicted to encode a truncated Rec10 protein. This mutant has levels of crossing over and gene conversion substantially higher than a rec10 null mutant (rec10-175) and forms cytologically detectable Rad51 foci indicative of meiotic recombination intermediates. These data demonstrate that while Rec10 is required for meiotic recombination, substantial meiotic recombination can occur in rec10 mutants that do not form LinEs, indicating that LinEs per se are not essential for all meiotic recombination.