Unraveling the regulation of crossover formation from its in vivo dynamics

The formation of crossovers during meiotic cell divisions is a crucial process to produce sperm and egg cells.

This mechanism not only secures proper chromosome segregation but also enhances genetic diversity, playing an essential role in sexual reproduction and evolutionary adaptation.

Disruptions in the regulation of crossover events can have detrimental effects on individual organisms and entire species populations. Thus, crossover formation is tightly regulated by both positive and negative pathways.

Crossover assurance guarantees that each pair of homologs undergoes at least one crossover, facilitating proper segregation.

Simultaneously, crossover interference prevents individual crossovers from occurring too closely within the genome, minimizing the risk of damage.

However, the molecular mechanisms of these key regulatory processes and the functional coupling between them are still not understood.

To dissect the regulatory mechanisms of crossover formation, we have achieved a groundbreaking visualization of this process in vivo, employing advanced imaging technology and AI-powered image analysis.

Our approach includes real-time imaging and correlative super-resolution microscopy for temporal and structural analysis of key steps in crossover formation.

In COntrol, I will now exploit these tools to acquire the quantitative data necessary to obtain a mechanistic understanding of crossover regulation.

I will develop and rigorously test biophysical models through precisely targeted genetic perturbations, harnessing C. elegans' unique toolset of advanced real-time imaging and genetics.

Furthermore, I will validate the uncovered mechanistic principles by examining their conservation in the vertebrate model system zebrafish.COntrol will thus shed light on one of the most fundamental questions in biology, namely how organisms distribute and shuffle genetic information among their progeny while maintaining the genetic integrity of future generations.