scholarly journals Slk19p Is a Centromere Protein That Functions to Stabilize Mitotic Spindles

1999 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Zeng ◽  
Jason A. Kahana ◽  
Pamela A. Silver ◽  
Mary K. Morphew ◽  
J. Richard McIntosh ◽  
...  

We have identified a novel centromere-associated gene product from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that plays a role in spindle assembly and stability. Strains with a deletion of SLK19 (synthetic lethal Kar3p gene) exhibit abnormally short mitotic spindles, increased numbers of astral microtubules, and require the presence of the kinesin motor Kar3p for viability. When cells are deprived of both Slk19p and Kar3p, rapid spindle breakdown and mitotic arrest is observed. A functional fusion of Slk19p to green fluorescent protein (GFP) localizes to kinetochores and, during anaphase, to the spindle midzone, whereas Kar3p-GFP was found at the nuclear side of the spindle pole body. Thus, these proteins seem to play overlapping roles in stabilizing spindle structure while acting from opposite ends of the microtubules.

1998 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
pp. 1217-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janni Petersen ◽  
Olaf Nielsen ◽  
Richard Egel ◽  
Iain M. Hagan

Formins are involved in diverse aspects of morphogenesis, and share two regions of homology: FH1 and FH2. We describe a new formin homology region, FH3. FH3 is an amino-terminal domain that differs from the Rho binding site identified in Bni1p and p140mDia. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe formin Fus1 is required for conjugation, and is localized to the projection tip in cells of mating pairs. We replaced genomic fus1+ with green fluorescent protein (GFP)- tagged versions that lacked either the FH1, FH2, or FH3 domain. Deletion of any FH domain essentially abolished mating. FH3, but neither FH1 nor FH2, was required for Fus1 localization. An FH3 domain–GFP fusion protein localized to the projection tips of mating pairs. Thus, the FH3 domain alone can direct protein localization. The FH3 domains of both Fus1 and the S. pombe cytokinesis formin Cdc12 were able to localize GFP to the spindle pole body in half of the late G2 cells in a vegetatively growing population. Expression of both FH3-GFP fusions also affected cytokinesis. Overexpression of the spindle pole body component Sad1 altered the distribution of both Sad1 and the FH3-GFP domain. Together these data suggest that proteins at multiple sites can interact with FH3 domains.


1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2393-2406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marı́a de la Cruz Muñoz-Centeno ◽  
Susan McBratney ◽  
Antonio Monterrosa ◽  
Breck Byers ◽  
Carl Mann ◽  
...  

The MPS2 (monopolar spindle two) gene is one of several genes required for the proper execution of spindle pole body (SPB) duplication in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae ( Winey et al., 1991 ). We report here that the MPS2 gene encodes an essential 44-kDa protein with two putative coiled-coil regions and a hydrophobic sequence. Although MPS2 is required for normal mitotic growth, some null strains can survive; these survivors exhibit slow growth and abnormal ploidy. The MPS2 protein was tagged with nine copies of the myc epitope, and biochemical fractionation experiments show that it is an integral membrane protein. Visualization of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) Mps2p fusion protein in living cells and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy of 9xmyc-Mps2p revealed a perinuclear localization with one or two brighter foci of staining corresponding to the SPB. Additionally, immunoelectron microscopy shows that GFP-Mps2p localizes to the SPB. Our analysis suggests that Mps2p is required as a component of the SPB for insertion of the nascent SPB into the nuclear envelope.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 1439-1450
Author(s):  
Mark E Nickas ◽  
Aaron M Neiman

Abstract Spore formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the de novo synthesis of prospore membranes and spore walls. Ady3p has been identified as an interaction partner for Mpc70p/Spo21p, a meiosis-specific component of the outer plaque of the spindle pole body (SPB) that is required for prospore membrane formation, and for Don1p, which forms a ring-like structure at the leading edge of the prospore membrane during meiosis II. ADY3 expression has been shown to be induced in midsporulation. We report here that Ady3p interacts with additional components of the outer and central plaques of the SPB in the two-hybrid assay. Cells that lack ADY3 display a decrease in sporulation efficiency, and most ady3Δ/ady3Δ asci that do form contain fewer than four spores. The sporulation defect in ady3Δ/ady3Δ cells is due to a failure to synthesize spore wall polymers. Ady3p forms ring-like structures around meiosis II spindles that colocalize with those formed by Don1p, and Don1p rings are absent during meiosis II in ady3Δ/ady3Δ cells. In mpc70Δ/mpc70Δ cells, Ady3p remains associated with SPBs during meiosis II. Our results suggest that Ady3p mediates assembly of the Don1p-containing structure at the leading edge of the prospore membrane via interaction with components of the SPB and that this structure is involved in spore wall formation.


1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 341-352
Author(s):  
R.A. Quinlan ◽  
C.I. Pogson ◽  
K. Gull

Methyl benzimidazol-2-yl-carbamate (MBC), at a concentration of 100 microM, has a pronounced effect on the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, resulting in the accumulation of cells as large doublets. We have determined a specific execution point for the effect of MBC on the yeast cell cycle, and have shown that this execution point is between the cycle events of spindle pole body duplication and spindle pole body separation. An ultrastructural examination of the MBC-treated cells revealed the absence of cytoplasmic and spindle microtubules. MBC treatment also produced an altered spindle pole body morphology, causing the disappearance of the outer component. Nuclear size was also markedly increased in the MBC-induced doublet cells, although the septa were completely absent from these doublet cells. It is proposed that MBC inhibits microtubule polymerization, rather than causing the depolymerization of stable microtubules.


1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 2213-2222 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Futcher ◽  
J Carbon

Plasmids carrying a Saccharomyces cerevisiae centromere have a copy number of one or two, whereas other yeast plasmids have high copy numbers. The number of CEN plasmids per yeast cell was made artificially high by transforming cells simultaneously with several different CEN plasmids carrying different, independently selectable markers. Some host cells carried five different CEN plasmids and an average total of 13 extra copies of CEN3. Several effects were noted. The copy number of each plasmid was unexpectedly high. The plasmids were mutually unstable. Cultures contained many dead cells. The viable host cells grew more slowly than control cells, even in nonselective medium. There was a pause in the cell cycle at or just before mitosis. We conclude that an excess of centromeres is toxic and that the copy number of centromere plasmids is low partly because of selection against cells carrying multiple centromere plasmids. The toxicity may be caused by competition between the centromeres for some factor present in limiting quantities, e.g., centromere-binding proteins, microtubules, or space on the spindle pole body.


2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2949-2959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita K. Miller ◽  
Soo-Chen Cheng ◽  
Mark D. Rose

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, positioning of the mitotic spindle depends on the interaction of cytoplasmic microtubules with the cell cortex. In this process, cortical Kar9p in the bud acts as a link between the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. To identify Kar9p-interacting proteins, a two-hybrid screen was conducted with the use of full-length Kar9p as bait, and three genes were identified: BIM1, STU2, andKAR9 itself. STU2 encodes a component of the spindle pole body. Bim1p is the yeast homologue of the human microtubule-binding protein EB1, which is a binding partner to the adenomatous polyposis coli protein involved in colon cancer. Eighty-nine amino acids within the third quarter of Bim1p was sufficient to confer interaction with Kar9p. The two-hybrid interactions were confirmed with the use of coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Genetic analysis placed Bim1p in the Kar9p pathway for nuclear migration. Bim1p was not required for Kar9p's cortical or spindle pole body localization. However, deletion ofBIM1 eliminated Kar9p localization along cytoplasmic microtubules. Furthermore, in the bim1 mutants, the cytoplasmic microtubules no longer intersected the cortical dot of Green Fluorescent Protein–Kar9p. These experiments demonstrate that the interaction of cytoplasmic microtubules with the Kar9p cortical attachment site requires the microtubule-binding protein Bim1p.


2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tennessee J. Yoder ◽  
Mark A. McElwain ◽  
Susan E. Francis ◽  
Joy Bagley ◽  
Eric G.D. Muller ◽  
...  

The spindle pole body (SPB) is the microtubule organizing center in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. An essential task of the SPB is to ensure assembly of the bipolar spindle, which requires a proper balancing of forces on the microtubules and chromosomes. The SPB component Spc110p connects the ends of the spindle microtubules to the core of the SPB. We previously reported the isolation of a mutant allele spc110-226 that causes broken spindles and SPB disintegration 30 min after spindle formation. By live cell imaging of mutant cells with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-Tub1p or Spc97p-GFP, we show that spc110-226 mutant cells have early defects in spindle assembly. Short spindles form but do not advance to the 1.5-μm stage and frequently collapse. Kinetochores are not arranged properly in the mutant cells. In 70% of the cells, no stable biorientation occurs and all kinetochores are associated with only one SPB. Examination of the SPB remnants by electron microscopy tomography and fluorescence microscopy revealed that the Spc110-226p/calmodulin complex is stripped off of the central plaque of the SPB and coalesces to from a nucleating structure in the nucleoplasm. The central plaque components Spc42p and Spc29p remain behind in the nuclear envelope. The delamination is likely due to a perturbed interaction between Spc42p and Spc110-226p as detected by fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis. We suggest that the force exerted on the SPB by biorientation of the chromosomes pulls the Spc110-226p out of the SPB; removal of force exerted by coherence of the sister chromatids reduced fragmentation fourfold. Removal of the forces exerted by the cytoplasmic microtubules had no effect on fragmentation. Our results provide insights into the relative contributions of the kinetochore and cytoplasmic microtubules to the forces involved in formation of a bipolar spindle.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (7) ◽  
pp. 2372-2375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Wesp ◽  
Susanne Prinz ◽  
Gerald R. Fink

ABSTRACT During sporulation in diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae, spindle pole bodies acquire the so-called meiotic plaque, a prerequisite for spore formation. Mpc70p is a component of the meiotic plaque and is thus essential for spore formation. We show here that MPC70/mpc70 heterozygous strains most often produce two spores instead of four and that these spores are always nonsisters. In wild-type strains, Mpc70p localizes to all four spindle pole bodies, whereas in MPC70/mpc70 strains Mpc70p localizes to only two of the four spindle pole bodies, and these are always nonsisters. Our data can be explained by conservative spindle pole body distribution in which the two newly synthesized meiosis II spindle pole bodies of MPC70/mpc70 strains lack Mpc70p.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (14) ◽  
pp. 3171-3181 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Malone ◽  
W.D. Fixsen ◽  
H.R. Horvitz ◽  
M. Han

Nuclear migrations are essential for metazoan development. Two nuclear migrations that occur during C. elegans development require the function of the unc-84 gene. unc-84 mutants are also defective in the anchoring of nuclei within the hypodermal syncytium and in the migrations of the two distal tip cells of the gonad. Complementation analyses of 17 unc-84 alleles defined two genetically separable functions. Both functions are required for nuclear and distal tip cell migrations, but only one is required for nuclear anchorage. The DNA lesions associated with these 17 mutations indicate that the two genetically defined functions correspond to two distinct regions of the UNC-84 protein. The UNC-84 protein has a predicted transmembrane domain and a C-terminal region with similarity to the S. pombe spindle pole body protein Sad1 and to two predicted mammalian proteins. Analysis of a green fluorescent protein reporter indicated that UNC-84 is widely expressed and localized to the nuclear envelope. We propose that UNC-84 functions to facilitate a nuclear-centrosomal interaction required for nuclear migration and anchorage.


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