Research reveals role of gene in i...( Ma's team's research are revealed is it...)

Ma's team's research are revealed is its exquisite electron-microscope images, which show more clearly than ever before the process of cell division in plants. "We are fortunate to have on our team a scientist who is highly skilled at the very tricky process of preparing cells for viewing with an electron microscope," Ma says. Like a loaf of bread cut into slices, the images show a section-by-section dissection of the chromosomes that reveal their structure and position within the cell. Clearly visible is the jelly-sandwich-like structure known as the synaptonemal complex--a thick piece of the chromosome sitting next to another thick piece with a thin central element joining the two. This synaptonemal complex should form during meiosis for the entire set of chromosomes in normal plant cells, but Ma found that it does not form in the reproductive cells of the mutant plant. "You just see lots of thick pieces that have not gotten paired with another piece because RAD51 is not there to bring the two pieces together," Ma says. The electron-microscope images show definitively that the RAD51 gene is required in plants for forming the central element that pairs the two chromosomes.

The RAD51 gene also is known to be required for its role in repairing damage caused to DNA in all of an organism's cells by harmful radiation and chemicals. The cell uses an intact section of DNA as a template for repairing a damaged homologous one. The research establishes that this system for repairing broken chromosomes with the protein products of the RAD51 gene, which previously was known to occur in animals and fungi, occurs in meiotic cells of plants, as well.

"Our research suggests that some defects in human reproduction may be associated with partial loss of the RAD51 function," Ma says. "While it is not possible at present to study defects in this RAD51 gene in people who have fertility problems, we now can use this mutant plant strain to understand more tha
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Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy
science@psu.edu
814-863-4682
Penn State
21-Jul-2004

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