Rad54 protein is a key player of the homologous recombination pathway, required for deposition and stabilisation of Rad51 foci at double strand breaks. Its role at the meiotic prophase, when double strand breaks are physiologically introduced to allow recombination, is well described. However, the hypothesis that Rad54 deficiency affect chromosome integrity of germ cells in unirradiated and irradiated animals has not been tested yet. In this study, the occurrence of spontaneous and X-ray-induced chromosome aberrations was assessed by analysis of spermatocyte MI spreads or by application of micronucleus assay in early spermatids isolated from wild type and Rad54/Rad54B knockout (KO) mice. In Rad54/Rad54B KO mice, the spontaneous chromosome aberration frequency detected at MI was >10-fold higher than in wild type animals. In addition, after exposure to 1 Gy X-rays at the radiosensitive stage of diplotene, an enhanced response to radiation was observed in Rad54-deficient animals, corresponding to a 2-3 sensitivity factor in comparison to wild type mice. Also the spontaneous frequency of micronucleated round spermatids was on the average 10-fold higher in KO than in wild type mice, indicating that Rad54/Rad54B KO spermatocytes carrying chromosome aberrations are able to pass through the meiotic divisions and to continue the spermatogenesis process. Our results provide the first evidence of the role of Rad54/Rad54B in the maintenance of a stable karyotype during male meiosis, and suggest that Rad54/Rad54B deficiency may impact on the DNA integrity of developing mouse gametes.

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