Mechanisms Governing Gametogenesis and Meiosis in Health and Disease

Dear Colleagues,

Gametogenesis is likely one of the most complex and highly regulated multi-step cell differentiation program and is the essence of sexual reproduction of eukaryotes. It involves a specialized division, named meiosis, to generate highly specialized haploid cells from a diploid germ cell. Meiosis is an orchestrated process that aims to halve the genomic content, and joining homologs chromosomes is the strategy employed by germ cells. To do that, novel meiotic-specific processes operate during the first meiotic division such as DSB generation, synaptonemal complex assembly, chromosome pairing and synapsis, DSB repair using the non-sister chromatid to generate crossing overs between homologs, protection of centromeric cohesion, and suppression of sister-centromere separation. Perturbation of these tightly regulated processes leads to genome stability that can result in infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects. Genetic analysis from yeast to mammals is mostly responsible for our current understanding of the meiotic process. Much knowledge still needs to be acquired about the multiple facets of this intriguing pathway.

The goal of this Special Issue is to attract original research articles as well as reviews that will broaden our current knowledge on the understanding of gametogenesis/meiosis function and dysfunction, with an emphasis on novel processes/molecules/mechanisms involved in the whole process. This Special Issue will give a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on gametogenesis from different perspectives and make use of a variety of organisms to stimulate novel scientific approaches to understanding the basic process and how its dysregulation gives rise to human disease.

Dr. Alberto M. Pendás
Guest Editor

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• meiotic recombination
• chromosome segregation
• infertility
• meiosis
• aneuploidy