Research Progress on the Mechanism of Histone Post-Translational Modifications in Meiosis

Meiosis is the basis for the production of haploid gametes and genetic diversity in sexual reproductive organisms. During this process, DNA replicates once and the cell divides continuously twice, forming four gametes with half of the mother cell’s chromosomes. In the early stage of meiosis, homologous chromosomes undergo pairing, synapsis, recombination, and separation in sequence, and the parental chromosomes are correctly assigned to gametes, achieving stable transmission of genetic material between biological generations. Post-translational modification of histones is one of the important epigenetic mechanisms, including histone methylation (me), acylation (ac), phosphorylation (ph), ubiquitination (ub), and so on. The establishment, recognition, erasure, and cross talk between different histone modifications reveal a “histone code” that participates in DNA replication, damage repair, gene expression, and chromatin conformational changes, playing important roles in multiple stages of meiosis. This article reviews the recent research progress on the involvement of histone post-translational modifications in important biological events related to meiosis, and provides new insights for subsequent research contents and directions.