Meiosis is a specialized cell division that generates gametes in every sexually reproducing organism, from fungi to humans. During meiosis in most organisms, homologous recombination is essential for accurate chromosome segregation. The long-range objectives of our research are to understand the mechanism of meiotic recombination and to determine how this process is coordinated with other events of meiotic prophase. We focus much of our attention on Spo11 (the protein that makes the DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that initiate recombination), the proteins that interact with Spo11, and the interactions of these proteins with meiotic chromosomes. We are also examining the mechanisms that regulate the timing and location of DSB formation, the mechanisms that control the distribution of crossovers, and the mammalian checkpoints that monitor recombination and chromosome structure.
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