Simulation of chromosomal homology searching in meiotic pairing.

A cellular automaton model has been developed to simulate some aspects of chromosome behaviour during meiotic prophase when homologous chromosomes search for each other so that they can pair. Simulations allow one to compare the relative efficiencies of random searching by chromosome shuffling along the inner nuclear membrane or within the lumen of the nucleus, the effects of biased movements and of chromosome clustering (bouquet or synizetic knot), different numbers of homology recognition sites per chromosome and different chromosome numbers on the efficiency of the pairing process. Parameters of the simulated models can be easily adjusted to fit experimentally obtained figures.