Meiotic double-strand break repair DNA synthesis tracts in Arabidopsis thaliana

We report here the successful labelling of meiotic prophase I DNA synthesis in the flowering plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Incorporation of the thymidine analogue, EdU, enables visualisation of the footprints of recombinational repair of programmed meiotic DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), with ~400 discrete, SPO11-dependent, EdU-labelled chromosomal foci clearly visible at pachytene and later stages of meiosis. This number equates well with previous estimations of 200-300 DNA double-strand breaks per meiosis in Arabidopsis, confirming the power of this approach to detect the repair of most or all SPO11-dependent meiotic DSB repair events. The chromosomal distribution of these DNA-synthesis foci accords with that of early recombination markers and MLH1, which marks Class I crossover sites. Approximately 10 inter-homologue cross-overs (CO) have been shown to occur in each Arabidopsis male meiosis and, athough very probably under-estimated, an equivalent number of inter-homologue gene conversions (GC) have been described. Thus, at least 90% of meiotic recombination events, and very probably more, have not previously been accessible for analysis. Visual examination of the patterns of the foci on the synapsed pachytene chromosomes corresponds well with expectations from the different mechanisms of meiotic recombination and notably, no evidence for long Break-Induced Replication DNA synthesis tracts was found. Labelling of meiotic prophase I, SPO11-dependent DNA synthesis holds great promise for further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of meiotic recombination, at the heart of reproduction and evolution of eukaryotes.