{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T18:39:43Z","timestamp":1792780783518,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)","issue":"43","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007795","name":"Stowers Institute for Medical Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007795","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.science.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sci. Adv."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Throughout eukaryotes, the synaptonemal complex (SC) is a supramolecular structure essential for meiotic chromosome dynamics and sexual reproduction. While metazoan SC proteins display substantial sequence divergence, the lack of functional analyses beyond bilaterian models has obscured a mechanistic understanding of SC evolution. Here, we report that the sea anemone\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Nematostella vectensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    exhibits synapsis of homologous chromosomes in a classic zipper-like manner and expresses at least eight orthologs of 10 known vertebrate SC proteins. Unexpectedly, mutagenesis of the core SC components\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sycp1<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">syce2<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sycp3<\/jats:italic>\n                    resulted in divergent and sexually dimorphic phenotypes, indicating the functional diversification of these conserved factors. Combined, these findings challenge the assumption that the conservation of protein sequence or ultrastructure implies mechanistic homology.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.aei0758","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T17:58:42Z","timestamp":1792778322000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34133\/aaas_crossmark","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The\n                    <i>Nematostella<\/i>\n                    synaptonemal complex mediates divergent and sex-specific meiotic programs"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2197-3891","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stefanie","family":"Williams","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64110, 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