Abstract

Meiotic recombination generates gametes with novel combinations of genetic information. The distribution of crossover events is not random along chromosomes, but the mechanisms controlling their distribution are as yet poorly understood. The overall ambition of my Ph.D. is to study the mechanisms that control crossover frequency at a molecular level, taking a comparative approach between Arabidopsis thaliana and Triticum aestivum. Specifically, my aims are the genomic profiling of purified A. thaliana male meiocytes to correlate the patterns of meiotic transcription with crossover frequency, an investigation into the potential effects of the A. thaliana histone chaperone CHROMATIN ASSEMBLY FACTOR -1 on recombination frequency, the characterisation of T. aestivum METHYLTRANSFERASE -1 RNAi lines, and detailed crossover frequency mapping in A. thaliana and T.aestivum. In the long term, the data should provide crucial insights into the regulation of meiotic recombination of great importance in agricultural breeding.