Chromosome segregation during male meiosis is tailored to rapidly generate multitudes of sperm. Little is known about mechanisms that efficiently partition chromosomes to produce sperm. Using live imaging and tomographic reconstructions of spermatocyte meiotic spindles in Caenorhabditis elegans, we find the lagging X chromosome, a distinctive feature of anaphase I in C. elegans males, is due to lack of chromosome pairing. The unpaired chromosome remains tethered to centrosomes by lengthening kinetochore microtubules, which are under tension, suggesting that a ‘tug of war’ reliably resolves lagging. We find spermatocytes exhibit simultaneous pole-to-chromosome shortening (anaphase A) and pole-to-pole elongation (anaphase B). Electron tomography unexpectedly revealed spermatocyte anaphase A does not stem solely from kinetochore microtubule shortening. Instead, movement of autosomes is largely driven by distance change between chromosomes, microtubules, and centrosomes upon tension release during anaphase. Overall, we define novel features that segregate both lagging and paired chromosomes for optimal sperm production. 
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                            Chromosome number, sex determination, and meiotic chromosome behavior in the praying mantid Hierodula membranacea
                        
                    
    
            Praying mantids are important models for studying a wide range of chromosome behaviors, yet few species of mantids have been characterized chromosomally. Here we show that the praying mantid Hierodula membranacea has a chromosome number of 2n = 27, and X 1 X 1 X 2 X 2 (female): X 1 X 2 Y (male) sex determination. In male meiosis I, the X 1 , X 2 , and Y chromosomes of H . membranacea form a sex trivalent, with the Y chromosome associating with one spindle pole and the X 1 and X 2 chromosomes facing the opposite spindle pole. While it is possible that such a sex trivalent could experience different spindle forces on each side of the trivalent, in H . membranacea the sex trivalent aligns at the spindle equator with all of the autosomes, and then the sex chromosomes separate in anaphase I simultaneously with the autosomes. With this observation, H . membranacea can be used as a model system to study the balance of forces acting on a trivalent during meiosis I and analyze the functional importance of chromosome alignment in metaphase as a preparatory step for subsequent correct chromosome segregation. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 1715157
- PAR ID:
- 10380411
- Editor(s):
- Cimini, Daniela
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- PLOS ONE
- Volume:
- 17
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 1932-6203
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e0272978
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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