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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCScience Advances

The Nematostella synaptonemal complex mediates divergent and sex-specific meiotic programs

  • Stefanie Williams1
  • Jennifer Gardner1
  • Stephanie H. Nowotarski1
  • Matthew C. Gibson1
  1. 1Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA.
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Abstract

Throughout eukaryotes, the synaptonemal complex (SC) is a supramolecular structure essential for meiotic chromosome dynamics and sexual reproduction. While metazoan SC proteins display substantial sequence divergence, the lack of functional analyses beyond bilaterian models has obscured a mechanistic understanding of SC evolution. Here, we report that the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis exhibits synapsis of homologous chromosomes in a classic zipper-like manner and expresses at least eight orthologs of 10 known vertebrate SC proteins. Unexpectedly, mutagenesis of the core SC components sycp1, syce2, and sycp3 resulted in divergent and sexually dimorphic phenotypes, indicating the functional diversification of these conserved factors. Combined, these findings challenge the assumption that the conservation of protein sequence or ultrastructure implies mechanistic homology.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{williams2026nematostella,
  title = {{The Nematostella synaptonemal complex mediates divergent and sex-specific meiotic programs}},
  author = {Stefanie Williams and Jennifer Gardner and Stephanie H. Nowotarski and Matthew C. Gibson},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aei0758},
  url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aei0758},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The Nematostella synaptonemal complex mediates divergent and sex-specific meiotic programs
AU  - Stefanie Williams
AU  - Jennifer Gardner
AU  - Stephanie H. Nowotarski
AU  - Matthew C. Gibson
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/23
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aei0758
UR  - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aei0758
AB  - Throughout eukaryotes, the synaptonemal complex (SC) is a supramolecular structure essential for meiotic chromosome dynamics and sexual reproduction. While metazoan SC proteins display substantial sequence divergence, the lack of functional analyses beyond bilaterian models has obscured a mechanistic understanding of SC evolution. Here, we report that the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis exhibits synapsis of homologous chromosomes in a classic zipper-like manner and expresses at least eight orthologs of 10 known vertebrate SC proteins. Unexpectedly, mutagenesis of the core SC components sycp1, syce2, and sycp3 resulted in divergent and sexually dimorphic phenotypes, indicating the functional diversification of these conserved factors. Combined, these findings challenge the assumption that the conservation of protein sequence or ultrastructure implies mechanistic homology.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -