Stowers Institute research reveals evolutionary flexibility in meiosis

New research published in Science Advances indicates that the molecular machinery driving meiosis—the cellular process responsible for creating sperm and egg cells—is more adaptable across the animal kingdom than previously understood.

Investigators at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research discovered that while certain proteins guiding meiosis are widely shared across species, they do not always perform identical tasks. By studying the sea anemone Nematostella, researchers found that it assembles a ladder-like structure called a synaptonemal complex between paired chromosomes, similar to humans. While the sea anemone utilizes eight of the ten proteins known to compose the human synaptonemal complex, functional testing revealed significant differences in how these proteins operate.

Lead researcher Stefanie Williams noted that despite their essential roles, many proteins coordinating meiosis show signs of rapid evolution. This suggests that even when protein complexes appear structurally similar across different organisms, they can function in diverse ways.