MER3, a ZMM protein, is required for the formation of crossovers in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidopsis. Here, MER3, the first identified ZMM gene in a monocot, is characterized by map-based cloning in rice (Oryza sativa). The null mutation of MER3 results in complete sterility without any vegetative defects. Cytological analyses show that chiasma frequency is reduced dramatically in mer3 mutants and the remaining chiasmata distribute randomly among different pollen mother cells, implying possible coexistence of two kinds of crossover in rice. Immunocytological analyses reveal that MER3 only exists as foci in prophase I meiocytes. In addition, MER3 does not colocalize with PAIR2 at the beginning of prophase I, but locates on one end of PAIR2 fragments at later stages, whereas MER3 foci merely locate on one end of REC8 fragments when signals start to be seen in early prophase I. The normal loading of PAIR2 and REC8 in mer3 implies that their loading is independent of MER3. On the contrary, the absence of MER3 signal in pair2 mutants indicates that PAIR2 is essential for the loading and further function of MER3.
Abstract The chlorine radical (Cl) plays a crucial role in the formation of secondary air pollutants by determining the total atmospheric oxidative capacity (AOC). However, there are still large discrepancies among studies on chlorine chemistry, mainly due to uncertainties from three aspects: (a) Anthropogenic emissions of reactive chlorine species from disinfectant usage are typically overlooked. (b) The heterogeneous reaction uptake coefficients used in air quality models resulted in certain differences. (c) The co‐effect of anthropogenic and natural emissions is rarely investigated. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)‐Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system (updated with 21 new reactions and a comprehensive emissions inventory) was used to simulate the combined impact of chlorine emissions on the air quality of a coastal city cluster in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. The results indicate that the new emissions of reactive chlorine and the updated gas‐phase and heterogeneous chlorine chemistry can significantly enhance the AOC by 21.3%, 8.7%, 43.3%, and 58.7% in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. This is more evident in inland areas with high Cl concentrations. Our updates to the chlorine chemistry also increases the monthly mean maximum daily 8‐hr average (MDA 8) O 3 mixing ratio by 4.1–7.0 ppbv in different seasons. Additionally, chlorine chemistry promotes the formation of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), with maximum monthly average enhancements of 4.7–13.3 μg/m 3 in different seasons. This study underlines the significance of adding full chlorine emissions and updating chlorine chemistry in air quality models, and demonstrates that chlorine chemistry may significantly impact air quality over coastal regions.