Meiosis is the specialized, highly regulated process at the basis of the sexual reproduction of eukaryotes. During this process, a diploid cell undergoes a single round of DNA replication and two successive rounds of chromosome segregation, halving the chromosome set to generate four haploid products (gametes). Homologous (i.e. paternal and maternal) chromosomes during the prophase of the first division of meiosis undergo a highly regulated succession of events that include recognition, pairing, and synapsis along their length. An important aspect of chromosome organization, besides pairing and synapsis, consist in the condensation step: axial elements form between sister chromatids, bridging distant axis sites comprising cohesins, and resulting in the extrusion of chromatin loops away from the axis. The precise organization of these chromatin loops remain unclear, and is notably impaired by the sequence similarities of the two homologs. Our aim is to characterize the fine organization of chromatin on both homologs during meiotic prophase, and how this organization is functionally related to a recombination event.

Our aim is to characterize the fine organization of chromatin on homologs during meiotic prophase, and how this organization is functionally related to recombination.