Polymer dynamics reveal stage-wise unfolding and homologous pairing of chromosomes in fission yeast

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
During meiosis, the exchange of genetic material (“recombination”) is essential to bring about genetic variation in offspring. To carry out the recombination, homologous pairs of DNA have to come into proximity and align, which is inherently a polymer dynamics problem. In fission yeast, this is accomplished by the extensive nuclear oscillation that applies a pulling force on the chromosome polymers. In this work, we investigate the competition between the pulling force that tries to facilitate the alignment and the intra-chromatin interactions that assist the chromatin folding. The crucial role played by the intra-chromatin interaction for a range of pulling forces and loci locations is highlighted here. Upon comparing our results with the experimental findings, we not only reaffirm the enhancement of contact probability with loci-dependent pulling but also get a meaningful interpretation of the chromosome unfolding and pairing at different stages of movement.
Funding Information
  • Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India (ANRF/ARG/2025/003074/PS)
  • Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India (ANRF/ARG/2025/003994/LS)

This publication has 74 references indexed in Scilit: