scholarly journals Kinetochores are transported poleward along a single astral microtubule during chromosome attachment to the spindle in newt lung cells.

1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
C L Rieder ◽  
S P Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
Fiber Formation ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Microtubule Depolymerization ◽  
Chromosome Attachment ◽  
Kinetochore Region ◽  
Tubulin Immunofluorescence

During mitosis in cultured newt pneumocytes, one or more chromosomes may become positioned well removed (greater than 50 microns) from the polar regions during early prometaphase. As a result, these chromosomes are delayed for up to 5 h in forming an attachment to the spindle. The spatial separation of these chromosomes from the polar microtubule-nucleating centers provides a unique opportunity to study the initial stages of kinetochore fiber formation in living cells. Time-lapse Nomarski-differential interference contrast videomicroscopic observations reveal that late-attaching chromosomes always move, upon attachment, into a single polar region (usually the one closest to the chromosome). During this attachment, the kinetochore region of the chromosome undergoes a variable number of transient poleward tugs that are followed, shortly thereafter, by rapid movement of the chromosome towards the pole. Anti-tubulin immunofluorescence and serial section EM reveal that the kinetochores and kinetochore regions of nonattached chromosomes lack associated microtubules. By contrast, these methods reveal that the attachment and subsequent poleward movement of a chromosome correlates with the association of a single long microtubule with one of the kinetochores of the chromosome. This microtubule traverses the entire distance between the spindle pole and the kinetochore and often extends well past the kinetochore. From these results, we conclude that the initial attachment of a chromosome to the newt pneumocyte spindle results from an interaction between a single polar-nucleated microtubule and one of the kinetochores on the chromosome. Once this association is established, the kinetochore is rapidly transported poleward along the surface of the microtubule by a mechanism that is not dependent on microtubule depolymerization. Our results further demonstrate that the motors for prometaphase chromosome movement must be either on the surface of the kinetochore (i.e., within the corona but not the plate), distributed along the surface of the kinetochore microtubules, or both.

scholarly journals Dominant-Lethal α-Tubulin Mutants Defective in Microtubule Depolymerization in Yeast

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3973-3986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk R. Anders ◽  
David Botstein
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Instability ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Inducible Promoter ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Microtubule Depolymerization ◽  
Gtp Hydrolysis ◽  
Mutant Proteins ◽  
Gtpase Activation ◽  
Β Tubulin

The dynamic instability of microtubules has long been understood to depend on the hydrolysis of GTP bound to β-tubulin, an event stimulated by polymerization and necessary for depolymerization. Crystallographic studies of tubulin show that GTP is bound by β-tubulin at the longitudinal dimer-dimer interface and contacts particular α-tubulin residues in the next dimer along the protofilament. This structural arrangement suggests that these contacts could account for assembly-stimulated GTP hydrolysis. As a test of this hypothesis, we examined, in yeast cells, the effect of mutating the α-tubulin residues predicted, on structural grounds, to be involved in GTPase activation. Mutation of these residues to alanine (i.e., D252A and E255A) created poisonous α-tubulins that caused lethality even as minor components of the α-tubulin pool. When the mutant α-tubulins were expressed from the galactose-inducible promoter ofGAL1, cells rapidly acquired aberrant microtubule structures. Cytoplasmic microtubules were largely bundled, spindle assembly was inhibited, preexisting spindles failed to completely elongate, and occasional, stable microtubules were observed unattached to spindle pole bodies. Time-lapse microscopy showed that microtubule dynamics had ceased. Microtubules containing the mutant proteins did not depolymerize, even in the presence of nocodazole. These data support the view that α-tubulin is a GTPase-activating protein that acts, during microtubule polymerization, to stimulate GTP hydrolysis in β-tubulin and thereby account for the dynamic instability of microtubules.

scholarly journals Mps1 promotes poleward chromosome movements in meiotic pro-metaphase

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Régis E Meyer ◽  
Aaron R Tipton ◽  
Gary J Gorbsky ◽  
Dean S Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Pair ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Microtubule Depolymerization ◽  
Data Support ◽  
Chromosome Movements ◽  
Meiosis I ◽  
Prophase Of Meiosis

ABSTRACTIn prophase of meiosis I, homologous partner chromosomes pair and become connected by crossovers. Chiasmata, the connections formed between the partners enable the chromosome pair, called a bivalent, to attach as a single unit to the spindle. When the meiosis I spindle forms in prometaphase, most bivalents are associated with a single spindle pole and go through a series of oscillations on the spindle, attaching to and detaching from microtubules until the partners of the bivalent are bi-oriented, that is, attached to microtubules from opposite sides of the spindle, and prepared to be segregated at anaphase I. The conserved, kinetochore-associated kinase, Mps1, is essential for the bivalents to be pulled by microtubules across the spindle in prometaphase. Here we show that MPS1 is not required for kinetochores to attach microtubules but instead is necessary to trigger the migration of microtubule-attached kinetochores towards the poles. Our data support the model that Mps1 triggers depolymerization of microtubule ends once they attach to kinetochores in prometaphase. Thus, Mps1 acts at the kinetochore to co-ordinate the successful attachment of a microtubule and the triggering of microtubule depolymerization to move the chromosome.

scholarly journals The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kinesin-related Motor Kar3p Acts at Preanaphase Spindle Poles to Limit the Number and Length of Cytoplasmic Microtubules

1997 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Saunders ◽  
David Hornack ◽  
Valerie Lengyel ◽  
Changchun Deng
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Body Region ◽  
Microtubule Depolymerization ◽  
Growth Defects ◽  
Microtubule Polymerization ◽  
Late Anaphase ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Cytoplasmic Microtubules

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae kinesin-related motor Kar3p, though known to be required for karyogamy, plays a poorly defined, nonessential role during vegetative growth. We have found evidence suggesting that Kar3p functions to limit the number and length of cytoplasmic microtubules in a cell cycle–specific manner. Deletion of KAR3 leads to a dramatic increase in cytoplasmic microtubules, a phenotype which is most pronounced from START through the onset of anaphase but less so during late anaphase in synchronized cultures. We have immunolocalized HA-tagged Kar3p to the spindle pole body region, and fittingly, Kar3p was not detected by late anaphase. A microtubule depolymerizing activity may be the major vegetative role for Kar3p. Addition of the microtubule polymerization inhibitors nocodazol or benomyl to the medium or deletion of the nonessential α-tubulin TUB3 gene can mostly correct the abnormal microtubule arrays and other growth defects of kar3 mutants, suggesting that these phenotypes result from excessive microtubule polymerization. Microtubule depolymerization may also be the mechanism by which Kar3p acts in opposition to the anaphase B motors Cin8p and Kip1p. A preanaphase spindle collapse phenotype of cin8 kip1 mutants, previously shown to involve Kar3p, is markedly delayed when microtubule depolymerization is inhibited by the tub2-150 mutation. These results suggest that the Kar3p motor may act to regulate the length and number of microtubules in the preanaphase spindle.

scholarly journals Recycling of Golgi-resident Glycosyltransferases through the ER Reveals a Novel Pathway and Provides an Explanation for Nocodazole-induced Golgi Scattering

1998 ◽  
Vol 143 (6) ◽  
pp. 1505-1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Storrie ◽  
Jamie White ◽  
Sabine Röttger ◽  
Ernst H.K. Stelzer ◽  
Tatsuo Suganuma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Dominant Negative ◽  
Dominant Negative Mutant ◽  
Protein Synthesis Inhibitors ◽  
Microtubule Depolymerization ◽  
Golgi Stack ◽  
Gradual Accumulation ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Er Export

During microtubule depolymerization, the central, juxtanuclear Golgi apparatus scatters to multiple peripheral sites. We have tested here whether such scattering is due to a fragmentation process and subsequent outward tracking of Golgi units or if peripheral Golgi elements reform through a novel recycling pathway. To mark the Golgi in HeLa cells, we stably expressed the Golgi stack enzyme N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-2 (GalNAc-T2) fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) or to an 11–amino acid epitope, VSV-G (VSV), and the trans/TGN enzyme β1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalT) fused to GFP. After nocodazole addition, time-lapse microscopy of GalNAc-T2–GFP and GalT–GFP revealed that scattered Golgi elements appeared abruptly and that no Golgi fragments tracked outward from the compact, juxtanuclear Golgi complex. Once formed, the scattered structures were relatively stable in fluorescence intensity for tens of minutes. During the entire process of dispersal, immunogold labeling for GalNAc-T2–VSV and GalT showed that these were continuously concentrated over stacked Golgi cisternae and tubulovesicular Golgi structures similar to untreated cells, suggesting that polarized Golgi stacks reform rapidly at scattered sites. In fluorescence recovery after photobleaching over a narrow (FRAP) or wide area (FRAP-W) experiments, peripheral Golgi stacks continuously exchanged resident proteins with each other through what appeared to be an ER intermediate. That Golgi enzymes cycle through the ER was confirmed by microinjecting the dominant-negative mutant of Sar1 (Sar1pdn) blocking ER export. Sar1pdn was either microinjected into untreated or nocodazole-treated cells in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors. In both cases, this caused a gradual accumulation of GalNAc-T2–VSV in the ER. Few to no peripheral Golgi elements were seen in the nocodazole-treated cells microinjected with Sar1pdn. In conclusion, we have shown that Golgi-resident glycosylation enzymes recycle through the ER and that this novel pathway is the likely explanation for the nocodazole-induced Golgi scattering observed in interphase cells.

scholarly journals Reorientation of Mispositioned Spindles in Short Astral Microtubule Mutantspc72Δ Is Dependent on Spindle Pole Body Outer Plaque and Kar3 Motor Protein

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1366-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Hoepfner ◽  
Florian Schaerer ◽  
Arndt Brachat ◽  
Achim Wach ◽  
Peter Philippsen
Keyword(s):  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Nuclear Migration ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Astral Microtubule ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
Microtubule Motor ◽  
Microtubule Formation ◽  
Mother Cells

Nuclear migration and positioning in Saccharomyces cerevisiae depend on long astral microtubules emanating from the spindle pole bodies (SPBs). Herein, we show by in vivo fluorescence microscopy that cells lacking Spc72, the SPB receptor of the cytoplasmic γ-tubulin complex, can only generate very short (<1 μm) and unstable astral microtubules. Consequently, nuclear migration to the bud neck and orientation of the anaphase spindle along the mother-bud axis are absent in these cells. However,SPC72 deletion is not lethal because elongated but misaligned spindles can frequently reorient in mother cells, permitting delayed but otherwise correct nuclear segregation. High-resolution time-lapse sequences revealed that this spindle reorientation was most likely accomplished by cortex interactions of the very short astral microtubules. In addition, a set of double mutants suggested that reorientation was dependent on the SPB outer plaque and the astral microtubule motor function of Kar3 but not Kip2/Kip3/Dhc1, or the cortex components Kar9/Num1. Our observations suggest that Spc72 is required for astral microtubule formation at the SPB half-bridge and for stabilization of astral microtubules at the SPB outer plaque. In addition, our data exclude involvement of Spc72 in spindle formation and elongation functions.

THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF KINETOCHORES OF UNPAIRED CHROMOSOMES IN A WHEAT HYBRID

1973 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Wagenaar ◽  
D. F. Bray
Keyword(s):  
Sister Chromatid ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Equatorial Plate ◽  
Univalent Chromosome ◽  
Wheat Hybrid ◽  
Opposite Pole ◽  
Kinetochore Region ◽  
Metaphase I

The kinetochore region of unpaired chromosomes (univalents) consists of two kinetochores, each belonging to a sister chromatid, that are located adjacent to one another on the surface of the univalent chromosome. This condition results in a movement by the univalent towards one of the polar regions at the onset of metaphase I. Once arrived in this region, one of the sister kinetochores obtains attachments of microtubules from the opposite pole. This results in a gradual return of the univalent to the equatorial plate, where it reaches an equilibrium. The sister kinetochores remain adjacent during the movement, but once arrived at the metaphase plate they develop a typical mitotic appearance, in which the sister kinetochores have opposite positions on the chromosomes.

scholarly journals The chromokinesin Kid is necessary for chromosome arm orientation and oscillation, but not congression, on mitotic spindles

2001 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 1135-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aime A. Levesque ◽  
Duane A. Compton
Keyword(s):  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Mitotic Spindles ◽  
Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy ◽  
Spindle Poles ◽  
Ejection Force ◽  
Chromosome Congression ◽  
Contrast Microscopy ◽  
Interference Contrast Microscopy

Chromokinesins have been postulated to provide the polar ejection force needed for chromosome congression during mitosis. We have evaluated that possibility by monitoring chromosome movement in vertebrate-cultured cells using time-lapse differential interference contrast microscopy after microinjection with antibodies specific for the chromokinesin Kid. 17.5% of cells injected with Kid-specific antibodies have one or more chromosomes that remain closely opposed to a spindle pole and fail to enter anaphase. In contrast, 82.5% of injected cells align chromosomes in metaphase, progress to anaphase, and display chromosome velocities not significantly different from control cells. However, injected cells lack chromosome oscillations, and chromosome orientation is atypical because chromosome arms extend toward spindle poles during both congression and metaphase. Furthermore, chromosomes cluster into a mass and fail to oscillate when Kid is perturbed in cells containing monopolar spindles. These data indicate that Kid generates the polar ejection force that pushes chromosome arms away from spindle poles in vertebrate-cultured cells. This force increases the efficiency with which chromosomes make bipolar spindle attachments and regulates kinetochore activities necessary for chromosome oscillation, but is not essential for chromosome congression.

Somatic nuclear division in the sporidia of Ustilago violacea. II. Observations on living cells with phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy

1974 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 739-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. H. Poon ◽  
A. W. Day
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Acridine Orange ◽  
Phase Contrast ◽  
Nuclear Division ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Pole Body ◽  
Orange Fluorescence

Somatic nuclear division in living cells is described under both phase-contrast and acridine orange fluorescence microscopy. The observations confirm a previous description of the division in fixed cells stained with acetic orcein. Acridine orange at the optimum concentration of 75–250 mg/liter complete medium clearly differentiated the nucleolus, chromatinic granules, nucleoplasm, and spindle pole body, as well as indicating changes in RNA content in the cytoplasm during budding. Acridine orange fluorescence was identical in both living and fixed cells. The fluorescence of the spindle pole body indicated that it contains DNA, which may initiate RNA synthesis. Time-lapse phase-contrast observations confirmed that neither the fixation technique nor acridine orange or acetic orcein staining caused noticeable artefacts during division, and provided indisputable evidence for the sequencing of stages. Estimates from the time-lapse observations indicated that the division is quite slow (about 45 min) and that 'prophase' takes about 12 min, 'metaphase' 5 min, and 'anaphase–telophase' about 28 min.

scholarly journals Cell division in two large pennate diatoms Hantzschia and Nitzschia III. A new proposal for kinetochore function during prometaphase.

1980 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
D H Tippit ◽  
J D Pickett-Heaps ◽  
R Leslie
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
Chromosome Movements ◽  
Kinetochore Function

Prometaphase in two large species of diatoms is examined, using the following techniques: (a) time-lapse cinematography of chromosome movements in vivo; (b) electron microscopy of corresponding stages: (c) reconstruction of the microtubules (MTs) in the kinetochore fiber of chromosomes attached to the spindle. In vivo, the chromosomes independently commence oscillations back and forth to one pole. The kinetochore is usually at the leading edge of such chromosome movements; a variable time later both kinetochores undergo such oscillations but toward opposite poles and soon stretch poleward to establish stable bipolar attachment. Electron microscopy of early prometaphase shows that the kinetochores usually laterally associate with MTs that have one end attached to the spindle pole. At late prometaphase, most chromosomes are fully attached to the spindle, but the kinetochores on unattached chromosomes are bare of MTs. Reconstruction of the kinetochore fiber demonstrates that most of its MTs (96%) extend past the kinetochore and are thus apparently not nucleated there. At least one MT terminates at each kinetochore analyzed. Our interpretation is that the conventional view of kinetochore function cannot apply to diatoms. The kinetochore fiber in diatoms appears to be primarily composed of MTs from the poles, in contrast to the conventional view that many MTs of the kinetochore fiber are nucleated by the kinetochore. Similarly, chromosomes appear to initially orient their kinetochores to opposite poles by moving along MTs attached to the poles, instead of orientation effected by kinetochore MTs laterally associating with other MTs in the spindle. The function of the kinetochore in diatoms and other cell types is discussed.

scholarly journals Kinetochores capture astral microtubules during chromosome attachment to the mitotic spindle: direct visualization in live newt lung cells.

1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 1039-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
J H Hayden ◽  
S S Bowser ◽  
C L Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Dynamic Instability ◽  
Lung Cells ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Clear Area ◽  
Chromosome Attachment ◽  
Initial Interaction ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
First Time

When viewed by light microscopy the mitotic spindle in newt pneumocytes assembles in an optically clear area of cytoplasm, virtually devoid of mitochondria and other organelles, which can be much larger than the forming spindle. This unique optical property has allowed us to examine the behavior of individual microtubules, at the periphery of asters in highly flattened living prometaphase cells, by video-enhanced differential interference-contrast light microscopy and digital image processing. As in interphase newt pneumocytes (Cassimeris, L., N. K. Pryer, and E. D. Salmon. 1988. J. Cell Biol. 107:2223-2231), centrosomal (i.e., astral) microtubules in prometaphase cells appear to exhibit dynamic instability, elongating at a mean rate of 14.3 +/- 5.1 microns/min (N = 19) and shortening at approximately 16 microns/min. Under favorable conditions the initial interaction between a kinetochore and the forming spindle can be directly observed. During this process the unattached chromosome is repeatedly probed by microtubules projecting from one of the polar regions. When one of these microtubules contacts the primary constriction the chromosome rapidly undergoes poleward translocation. Our observations on living mitotic cells directly demonstrate, for the first time, that chromosome attachment results from an interaction between astral microtubules and the kinetochore.

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