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In each generation, the two parental genomes must pair, recombine, and segregate to a newly mixed set of haploid chromosomes in a specialized cell division called meiosis. Failures in this process lead to miscarriages and congenital diseases. Research in my lab is directed towards the identification of genes and processes essential for accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis. For this, we study the meiotic entry network, which ensures the timely coordination and initiation of meiotic processes. We study the mechanisms of recognition and the well-ordered side-by-side alignment of homologous chromosomes. Furthermore, we are interested in the roles of topoisomerases during meiotic recombination, and their function in resolving unwanted chromosomal connections or crossover intermediates. The identification of any new risk factor leading to unfaithful partitioning of chromosomes into gametes is of high relevance to human health.
Excellent forward and reverse genetics, easy cytological observation of all meiotic stages and the transparency of the animal make the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans an excellent model system for our studies. State-of-the art CRISPR/Cas technologies are well established and allow the rapid generation of novel alleles and tagging of individual factors that can be followed by high-resolution imaging. This way we have generated numerous novel meiotic mutants that provide(d) us insight into events of prophase I of meiosis.
Verena Jantsch-Plunger studied Biochemistry at the University of Vienna. She conducted her diploma and PhD work at the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrew Fire (discovery of RNA-interference). She earned her PhD in 1993 at the University of Vienna. Since 2017 she is Prof. of Eukaryote Genetics at the University of Vienna.
My lab gained crucial insights into meiotic chromosome movement. In Caenorhabditis elegans abrogation of movement leads to the establishment of the synaptonemal complex between non-homologous DNA sequences. We found that SUN-1 is part of a complex that transduces mechanical forces and signals across the nuclear membrane and connects chromosomes in the nucleus to the force generating cytoplasmic apparatus. The complex ensures chromosome movement until essential meiotic tasks required to build a crossover have been fullfilled.
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2007.05.004
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.10.045
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001219
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003335
DOI: 10.1007/s00412-013-0436-7
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.007
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.03.018
We show how lamins “increase the fluidity of the nuclear membrane” during chromosome movement in the earliest stage of prophase I. By artificially increasing the rigidity of the lamina, we could demonstrate reduced chromosome movement resulting in abnormal chromosomes and increased apoptosis. We deciphered that cross talk between the lamina opening and events at the chromosomes exists.
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.03.018
We demonstrated that the C. elegans homolog of a conserved DNA repair factor RMI1 (RecQ-mediated genome instability protein 1) plays multiple genetically separable roles that together ensure the faithful inheritance of intact genomes during sexual reproduction. Strikingly, it spatially regulates the distribution of crossovers on chromosomes, demonstrating that the RTR (RecQ helicase-topoisomerase-RMI1/2) complex can act locally within specific chromosome domains.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002412
Transient and Partial Nuclear Lamina Disruption Promotes Chromosome Movement in Early Meiotic Prophase.
Link, Jana; Paouneskou, Dimitra; Velkova, Maria; Daryabeigi, Anahita; Laos, Triin; Labella, Sara; Barroso, Consuelo; Pacheco Piñol, Sarai; Montoya, Alex; Kramer, Holger; Woglar, Alexander; Baudrimont, Antoine; Markert, Sebastian Mathias; Stigloher, Christian; Martinez-Perez, Enrique; Dammermann, Alexander; Alsheimer, Manfred; Zetka, Monique; Jantsch, Verena
Matefin/SUN-1 Phosphorylation Is Part of a Surveillance Mechanism to Coordinate Chromosome Synapsis and Recombination with Meiotic Progression and Chromosome Movement.
Woglar, Alexander; Daryabeigi, Anahita; Adamo, Adele; Habacher, Cornelia; Machacek, Thomas; La Volpe, Adriana; Jantsch, Verena
Meiotic chromosome homology search involves modifications of the nuclear envelope protein Matefin/SUN-1.
Penkner, Alexandra M; Fridkin, Alexandra; Gloggnitzer, Jiradet; Baudrimont, Antoine; Machacek, Thomas; Woglar, Alexander; Csaszar, Edina; Pasierbek, Pawel; Ammerer, Gustav; Gruenbaum, Yosef; Jantsch, Verena
The Group Jantsch participates in in the special Doctoral Program 'Chromosome Dynamics' reviewed and funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF.
Machine Learning Enabled Pooled Optical Screening for Target Discovery in Human Cellular Disease Models
The evolution and development of mollusc shells
Unraveling the Complexity of Crossover Regulation in C. elegans
Dynamics of 3D Genome Structure and Function
How superworms can help to solve our plastic waste crisis
Title to be announced
New players in an old pathway: biology of methanogens of the TACK superphylum
Targeting a gerozyme to reverse muscle aging and increase healthspan
Shaping morphogen gradients: from molecules to tissues and back
Title to be announced
Studying stressed cells by in situ structural biology
The role of non-canonical double strand break repair pathways in genome stability and diversity
Exploring Microbial Resilience: Unravelling Escherichia coliand#x27;s Stress Response at the Level of Protein Synthesis
Arbuscular mycorrhiza development and function
Deep homology and deep diversity: Evolving genetic toolkits for making and sensing light
The evolution of cell type identity and tissue microecology at the fetal-maternal interface
The unanticipated roles of PICIs and phages in bacterial evolution
Chemical targeting of subcellular protein localization
Origin and diversification of gut-derived organs in chordates
Job's Dilemma for the Genome: Why Bad Things Happen to Good Chromosomes
Connections between carbon and nitrogen cycling in the ocean
Understanding how the DNA-loop-extruding protein complex Condensin folds a chromatinized genome into mitotic chromosomes
DrugMap: A quantitative pan-cancer analysis of cysteine ligandability
From Roads to Rivers? Occurrence and environmental fate of tire and road wear particles and of tire-related chemicals
FENS 2024 Satellite event: Home cage behavior monitoring at the interface of animal welfare and neuroscience
A mechanism for protein complex regulation at the mitochondrial surface
Striking physiology and cell biology of (marine) environmental microorganisms
Mechanisms controlling maintenance of cohesin dependent loops
Title to be announced