Essential for proper maintenance of sister-chromatid cohesion in both male and female meiosis. Mutations in ord cause premature separation of the sister chromatids in meiosis I and random segregation in both meiotic divisions. Required for chiasma maintenance in female meiosis. Mutations in ord reduce recombination in female meiosis. Interacts with Sce. In male meiosis it assembles onto chromosomes in late G2 of the meiotic cell cycle. It remains at the centromeres after chromosome condensation, through the meiosis I division until the separation of sister chromatids at anaphase II.