[Dernburg AF] ok79 is 1227 bp deletion, presumed null. Homozygotes morphologically normal, Mel (>99%), Him, defective segregation of all chromosomes, meiotic exchange <1% of wildtype, normal synapsis of homologues. Encodes homologue of budding yeast Spo11p.
spo-11 encodes an ortholog of Spo11p in S. cerevisiae that is required for meiotic DNA recombination, and (in conjunction with CHK-2 and MRE-11) for the localization of RAD-51 to foci in late zygotene/early pachytene nuclei; like its yeast ortholog, SPO-11 is related to a subunit of archaebacterial topoisomerase VI, and probably causes double-stranded DNA breaks through a topoisomerase-like transesterase mechanism; however, unlike Spo11p, SPO-11 is dispensable for homologous synapsis and formation of the synaptonemal complex; SPO-11 is active even in syp-1 mutants where its double-stranded breaks cannot be correctly processed; spo-11 is transcribed in the germline.
Predicted to enable DNA binding activity. Involved in meiotic DNA double-strand break processing. Predicted to be located in nuclear chromosome. Is an ortholog of human SPO11 (SPO11 initiator of meiotic double strand breaks).