The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spell protein is thought to catalyze formation of the DNA double-strand breaks that initiate meiotic recombination. Keeney et al. (1999) have cloned cDNA and genomic DNA for a mouse gene encoding a protein with significant sequence similarity to conserved domains found in proteins of the Spo11p family.
General function
Cell death/survival, DNA Replication
Comment
Cellular localization
Nuclear
Comment
Ovarian function
Oogenesis
Comment
Expression regulated by
Comment
Ovarian localization
Oocyte
Comment
Keeney et al. (1999) reported that strong expression of the Spell message is seen in juvenile and adult testis by RNA in situ hybridization, RT-PCR, and Northern blot, with much weaker expression in thymus and brain. In situ hybridization detects expression in oocytes of embryonic ovary, but not of adult ovary.