Physical Proximity of Sister Chromatids Promotes Top2-Dependent Intertwining

Sister chromatid intertwines (SCIs), or catenanes, are topological links between replicated chromatids that interfere with chromosome segregation. The formation of SCIs is thought to be a consequence of fork swiveling during DNA replication, and their removal is thought to occur because of the intrinsic feature of type II topoisomerases (Top2) to simplify DNA topology. Here, we report that SCIs are also formed independently of DNA replication during G₂/M by Top2-dependent concatenation of cohesed chromatids due to their physical proximity. We demonstrate that, in contrast to G₂/M, Top2 removes SCIs from cohesed chromatids at the anaphase onset. Importantly, SCI removal in anaphase requires condensin and coincides with the hyperactivation of condensin DNA supercoiling activity. This is consistent with the longstanding proposal that condensin provides a bias in Top2 function toward decatenation. A comprehensive model for the formation and resolution of toxic SCI entanglements on eukaryotic genomes is proposed.