Description
Product Characteristics:
Spo11 is a type II topoisomerase that is thought to generate the chromosome breaks that initiate meiotic recombination. The Spo11 protein initiates meiotic recombination by generating DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is required for meiotic synapsis in S. cerevisiae. The DSBs are located mostly in promoter regions, where the chromatin is in an open configuration, and cluster in domains along the chromosome. Expression of the Spo11 is detected mainly in the testis, in agreement with its predicted function in the initiation of meiotic recombination. Disruption of Spo11 leads to severe gonadal abnormalities from defective meiosis and results in infertility.
Synonyms: Meiotic recombination protein SPO 11, Meiotic recombination protein SPO11, MGC39953, SPO 11, SPO11 meiotic protein covalently bound to DSB homolog, SPO11 meiotic protein covalently bound to DSB like, SPO11_HUMAN.
Target Information: Meiotic recombination and chromosome segregation require the formation of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in paired chromosome homologs. During meiosis in yeast, a meiotic recombination protein is covalently-linked to the 5' end of DSBs and is essential for the formation of DSBs. The protein encoded by this gene is similar in sequence and conserved features to the yeast meiotic recombination protein. The encoded protein belongs to the TOP6A protein family. Several transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene, but the full-length nature of only two of them have been described. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]