Live imaging and biophysical modeling support a button-based mechanism of somatic homolog pairing in Drosophila

Three-dimensional eukaryotic genome organization provides the structural basis for gene regulation. In Drosophila melanogaster , genome folding is characterized by somatic homolog pairing, where homologous chromosomes are intimately paired from end to end; however, how homologs identify one another...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	eLife Vol. 10
Main Authors:	Child, Myron Barber, Bateman, Jack R, Jahangiri, Amir, Reimer, Armando, Lammers, Nicholas C, Sabouni, Nica, Villamarin, Diego, McKenzie-Smith, Grace C, Johnson, Justine E, Jost, Daniel, Garcia, Hernan G
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 08-06-2021 eLife Sciences Publication eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subjects:	button model Chromosomes Drosophila Embryos Gene expression Gene regulation Genomes homolog homologous chromosomes Insects Life Sciences live imaging pairing Physics of Living Systems Simulation live imaging homologous chromosomes button model pairing Drosophila D. melanogaster homolog physics of living systems
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Summary:	Three-dimensional eukaryotic genome organization provides the structural basis for gene regulation. In Drosophila melanogaster , genome folding is characterized by somatic homolog pairing, where homologous chromosomes are intimately paired from end to end; however, how homologs identify one another and pair has remained mysterious. Recently, this process has been proposed to be driven by specifically interacting ‘buttons’ encoded along chromosomes. Here, we turned this hypothesis into a quantitative biophysical model to demonstrate that a button-based mechanism can lead to chromosome-wide pairing. We tested our model using live-imaging measurements of chromosomal loci tagged with the MS2 and PP7 nascent RNA labeling systems. We show solid agreement between model predictions and experiments in the pairing dynamics of individual homologous loci. Our results strongly support a button-based mechanism of somatic homolog pairing in Drosophila and provide a theoretical framework for revealing the molecular identity and regulation of buttons.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:	2050-084X 2050-084X
DOI:	10.7554/eLife.64412