Modified cell cycle regulation in meiosis

Abstract

The study of meiosis regulation has always been carried out in parallel with mitotic cell cycle discoveries. The basic cell cycle machinery that regulates mitosis, based on fluctuations in the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), is responsible for the main transitions that occur during meiosis. However, the special characteristics of meiosis (e.g., the absence of an S-phase between meiosis I and meiosi II, a long prophase in which homologous recombination events occur, etc.) require specific regulation, and cells respond to this challenging situation in different ways. In some cases, mitotic regulators carry out the new functions or change their relative importance in a particular process, while in other cases novel meiosis-specific regulators emerge. In this chapter, we shall analyze these special modifications, beginning with the specific signals that cells receive to exit the mitotic cell cycle and enter meiosis. We shall review how mitotic regulators adapt to the necessities of the meiotic program, paying particular attention to meiosis-specific factors whose functions are essential for meiosis to be completed successfully. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.