Proteins involved in meiotic recombination: A role in male infertility?

Meiotic recombination results in the formation of crossovers, by which genetic information is exchanged between homologous chromosomes during prophase I of meiosis. Recombination is a complex process involving many proteins. Alterations in the genes involved in recombination may result in infertility. Molecular studies have improved our understanding of the roles and mechanisms of the proteins and protein complexes involved in recombination, some of which have function in mitotic cells as well as meiotic cells. Human gene sequencing studies have been performed for some of these genes and have provided further information on the phenotypes observed in some infertile individuals. However, further studies are needed to help elucidate the particular role(s) of a given protein and to increase our understanding of these protein systems. This review will focus on our current understanding of proteins involved in meiotic recombination from a genomic perspective, summarizing our current understanding of known mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms that may affect male fertility by altering meiotic recombination.