Molecular basis and functional significance of XY body formation in mammalian male meiosis

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The XY body is a specialized heterochromatic structure formed on the sex chromosomes during mammalian male meiosis. The failure of XY body formation leads to spermatocyte apoptosis, suggesting its crucial function in male gametogenesis. To date, however, the molecular basis of XY body formation has been largely unknown. In this study, we used gene targeting to generate mice lacking HORMAD2, a protein that localizes to the sex chromosome axes in mouse spermatocytes. Our results reveal that HORMAD2 is essential for the XY body formation via the recruitment of ATR activity.