Targeting of Meiotic Recombination

The meiotic recombination is initiated by the formation of DNA Double Strand Breaks (DSBs) that are catalyzed by Spo11, an evolutionary conserved endonuclease. While meiotic recombination is a mechanism that is necessary to allow the correct segregation of the chromosomes, the distribution of the frequency of meiotic recombination is not equal in the genome. There are regions with very low frequency of recombination (cold regions) that limit the identification and the selection of traits of interest.

Fusing Spo11 to a DNA binding domain (TFs, TALEs, ZFNs) increase the frequency of meiotic recombination at targeted sites. This system leads to a controlled stimulation of DSBs, keeping, at the same time, the cells in their physiological environment. We see major applications in the field of plant breeding and selection and we are currently applying Spo11-technology in mouse, rice, maize and wheat.