scholarly journals Live-cell imaging of marked chromosome regions reveals dynamics of mitotic chromosome resolution and compaction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Eykelenboom ◽  
Marek Gierliński ◽  
Zuojun Yue ◽  
Nadia Hegarat ◽  
Hilary Pollard ◽  
...  

SummaryWhen human cells enter mitosis, chromosomes undergo substantial changes in their organisation to resolve sister chromatids and compact chromosomes. Despite the fundamental importance of this phenomenon to genome stability, we still do not fully comprehend the timing and coordination of these events. To address these questions, we need to evaluate the progression of both sister chromatid resolution and chromosome compaction in one assay. We achieved this by analysing changes in configuration of marked chromosome regions over time, with high spatial and temporal resolution. This assay showed that sister chromatid resolution is an iterative process that begins in late G2 phase and completes in prophase. Cohesins and WAPL antagonistically regulate sister chromatid resolution in late G2 and prophase whilst local enrichment of cohesin on chromosomes prevents precocious sister chromatid resolution. Moreover, our assay allowed quantitative evaluation of the timing and efficiency of condensin II and I activities in promoting sister chromatid resolution and chromosome compaction, respectively. Thus, our real-time assay sheds new light on the dynamics of mitotic chromosome resolution and compaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 218 (5) ◽  
pp. 1531-1552 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Eykelenboom ◽  
Marek Gierliński ◽  
Zuojun Yue ◽  
Nadia Hegarat ◽  
Hilary Pollard ◽  
...  

When human cells enter mitosis, chromosomes undergo substantial changes in their organization to resolve sister chromatids and compact chromosomes. To comprehend the timing and coordination of these events, we need to evaluate the progression of both sister chromatid resolution and chromosome compaction in one assay. Here we achieved this by analyzing changes in configuration of marked chromosome regions over time, with high spatial and temporal resolution. This assay showed that sister chromatids cycle between nonresolved and partially resolved states with an interval of a few minutes during G2 phase before completing full resolution in prophase. Cohesins and WAPL antagonistically regulate sister chromatid resolution in late G2 and prophase while local enrichment of cohesin on chromosomes prevents precocious sister chromatid resolution. Moreover, our assay allowed quantitative evaluation of condensin II and I activities, which differentially promote sister chromatid resolution and chromosome compaction, respectively. Our assay reveals novel aspects of dynamics in mitotic chromosome resolution and compaction that were previously obscure in global chromosome assays.



Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-470
Author(s):  
Sue Biggins ◽  
Needhi Bhalla ◽  
Amy Chang ◽  
Dana L Smith ◽  
Andrew W Murray

Abstract Accurate chromosome segregation requires the precise coordination of events during the cell cycle. Replicated sister chromatids are held together while they are properly attached to and aligned by the mitotic spindle at metaphase. At anaphase, the links between sisters must be promptly dissolved to allow the mitotic spindle to rapidly separate them to opposite poles. To isolate genes involved in chromosome behavior during mitosis, we microscopically screened a temperature-sensitive collection of budding yeast mutants that contain a GFP-marked chromosome. Nine LOC (loss of cohesion) complementation groups that do not segregate sister chromatids at anaphase were identified. We cloned the corresponding genes and performed secondary tests to determine their function in chromosome behavior. We determined that three LOC genes, PDS1, ESP1, and YCS4, are required for sister chromatid separation and three other LOC genes, CSE4, IPL1, and SMT3, are required for chromosome segregation. We isolated alleles of two genes involved in splicing, PRP16 and PRP19, which impair α-tubulin synthesis thus preventing spindle assembly, as well as an allele of CDC7 that is defective in DNA replication. We also report an initial characterization of phenotypes associated with the SMT3/SUMO gene and the isolation of WSS1, a high-copy smt3 suppressor.



2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rugile Stanyte ◽  
Johannes Nuebler ◽  
Claudia Blaukopf ◽  
Rudolf Hoefler ◽  
Roman Stocsits ◽  
...  

Faithful genome transmission in dividing cells requires that the two copies of each chromosome’s DNA package into separate, but physically linked, sister chromatids. The linkage between sister chromatids is mediated by cohesin, yet where sister chromatids are linked and how they resolve during cell cycle progression has remained unclear. Here, we investigated sister chromatid organization in live human cells using dCas9-mEGFP labelling of endogenous genomic loci. We detected substantial sister locus separation during G2 phase, irrespective of the proximity to cohesin enrichment sites. Almost all sister loci separated within a few hours after their respective replication, and then rapidly equilibrated their average distances within dynamic chromatin polymers. Our findings explain why the topology of sister chromatid resolution in G2 largely reflects the DNA replication program. Further, these data suggest that cohesin enrichment sites are not persistent cohesive sites in human cells. Rather, cohesion might occur at variable genomic positions within the cell population.



2018 ◽  
Vol 217 (6) ◽  
pp. 1985-2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rugile Stanyte ◽  
Johannes Nuebler ◽  
Claudia Blaukopf ◽  
Rudolf Hoefler ◽  
Roman Stocsits ◽  
...  

Faithful genome transmission in dividing cells requires that the two copies of each chromosome’s DNA package into separate but physically linked sister chromatids. The linkage between sister chromatids is mediated by cohesin, yet where sister chromatids are linked and how they resolve during cell cycle progression has remained unclear. In this study, we investigated sister chromatid organization in live human cells using dCas9-mEGFP labeling of endogenous genomic loci. We detected substantial sister locus separation during G2 phase irrespective of the proximity to cohesin enrichment sites. Almost all sister loci separated within a few hours after their respective replication and then rapidly equilibrated their average distances within dynamic chromatin polymers. Our findings explain why the topology of sister chromatid resolution in G2 largely reflects the DNA replication program. Furthermore, these data suggest that cohesin enrichment sites are not persistent cohesive sites in human cells. Rather, cohesion might occur at variable genomic positions within the cell population.



2004 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond C. Chan ◽  
Aaron F. Severson ◽  
Barbara J. Meyer

The production of haploid gametes from diploid germ cells requires two rounds of meiotic chromosome segregation after one round of replication. Accurate meiotic chromosome segregation involves the remodeling of each pair of homologous chromosomes around the site of crossover into a highly condensed and ordered structure. We showed that condensin, the protein complex needed for mitotic chromosome compaction, restructures chromosomes during meiosis in Caenorhabditis elegans. In particular, condensin promotes both meiotic chromosome condensation after crossover recombination and the remodeling of sister chromatids. Condensin helps resolve cohesin-independent linkages between sister chromatids and alleviates recombination-independent linkages between homologues. The safeguarding of chromosome resolution by condensin permits chromosome segregation and is crucial for the formation of discrete, individualized bivalent chromosomes.



2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A Schalbetter ◽  
Anton Goloborodko ◽  
Geoffrey Fudenberg ◽  
Jon M Belton ◽  
Catrina Miles ◽  
...  

Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) protein complexes are key determinants of chromosome conformation. Using Hi-C and polymer modelling, we study how cohesin and condensin, two deeply-conserved SMC complexes, organize chromosomes in budding yeast. The canonical role of cohesins is to co-align sister chromatids whilst condensins generally compact mitotic chromosomes. We find strikingly different roles in budding yeast mitosis. First, cohesin is responsible for compacting mitotic chromosomes arms, independent of and in addition to its role in sister-chromatid cohesion. Cohesin dependent mitotic chromosome compaction can be fully accounted for through cis-looping of chromatin by loop extrusion. Second, condensin is dispensable for compaction along chromosomal arms and instead plays a specialized role, structuring rDNA and peri-centromeric regions. Our results argue that the conserved mechanism of SMC complexes is to form chromatin loops and that SMC-dependent looping is readily deployed in a range of contexts to functionally organize chromosomes.



2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben L. Carty ◽  
Elaine M. Dunleavy

Abstract Asymmetric cell division (ACD) produces daughter cells with separate distinct cell fates and is critical for the development and regulation of multicellular organisms. Epigenetic mechanisms are key players in cell fate determination. Centromeres, epigenetically specified loci defined by the presence of the histone H3-variant, centromere protein A (CENP-A), are essential for chromosome segregation at cell division. ACDs in stem cells and in oocyte meiosis have been proposed to be reliant on centromere integrity for the regulation of the non-random segregation of chromosomes. It has recently been shown that CENP-A is asymmetrically distributed between the centromeres of sister chromatids in male and female Drosophila germline stem cells (GSCs), with more CENP-A on sister chromatids to be segregated to the GSC. This imbalance in centromere strength correlates with the temporal and asymmetric assembly of the mitotic spindle and potentially orientates the cell to allow for biased sister chromatid retention in stem cells. In this essay, we discuss the recent evidence for asymmetric sister centromeres in stem cells. Thereafter, we discuss mechanistic avenues to establish this sister centromere asymmetry and how it ultimately might influence cell fate.



2010 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rihui Yan ◽  
Sharon E. Thomas ◽  
Jui-He Tsai ◽  
Yukihiro Yamada ◽  
Bruce D. McKee

Sister chromatid cohesion is essential to maintain stable connections between homologues and sister chromatids during meiosis and to establish correct centromere orientation patterns on the meiosis I and II spindles. However, the meiotic cohesion apparatus in Drosophila melanogaster remains largely uncharacterized. We describe a novel protein, sisters on the loose (SOLO), which is essential for meiotic cohesion in Drosophila. In solo mutants, sister centromeres separate before prometaphase I, disrupting meiosis I centromere orientation and causing nondisjunction of both homologous and sister chromatids. Centromeric foci of the cohesin protein SMC1 are absent in solo mutants at all meiotic stages. SOLO and SMC1 colocalize to meiotic centromeres from early prophase I until anaphase II in wild-type males, but both proteins disappear prematurely at anaphase I in mutants for mei-S332, which encodes the Drosophila homologue of the cohesin protector protein shugoshin. The solo mutant phenotypes and the localization patterns of SOLO and SMC1 indicate that they function together to maintain sister chromatid cohesion in Drosophila meiosis.



2009 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1617-1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri G. Strukov ◽  
A.S. Belmont


Genetics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-579

ABSTRACT In the paper by Jules O'Rear and Jasper Rine (Genetics  113: 517-529; July, 1986) entitled "Precocious meiotic centromere separation of a novel yeast chromosome," the authors described a gene conversion event between a linear yeast plasmid carrying a LYS2 gene and a mutant lys2 gene at the wild-type locus on chromosome II. When these yeasts were mated to wild-type yeast and the resulting diploids sporulated, linked markers on the linear plasmid showed unusual segregation and poor spore viability was observed. On the basis of these observations, we proposed that the recombination event between the linear plasmid and chromosome II had split chromosome II into two fragments, one of which carried the normal centromere of chromosome II (fragment IIa) and the other, a telocentric fragment (fragment IIb), carried the centromere present on the linear plasmid. Separation of the chromosomes from these cells on OFAGE gels verified that chromosome II had been split into two fragments. Furthermore, we proposed that the sister chromatids of the telocentric fragment (fragment IIb) separated precociously in meiosis I when complete chromosome II and fragment IIa were present. In discussions with colleagues, an alternative explanation arose in which a recombination event between a sister chromatid of fragment IIa and a sister chromatid of chromosome II would result in each chromosome II chromatid being joined to a fragment IIa chromatid at CEN2. The two daughter cells of meiosis I would therefore each receive one chromatid of fragment IIa and one chromatid of chromosome II. Segregation of the two sister chromatids of fragment IIb to one pole in meiosis I without precocious centromere separation would result in the observed tetrad classes. To distinguish between these two mechanisms, a centromere-linked marker was introduced into the cross between the strain containing the two fragments of chromosome II and a wild-type strain. Tetrad analysis of the resulting diploid is consistent with the recombination model for the poor spore viability and inconsistent with precocious centromere separation. We thank Drs. Eric Lambie, Michael Lichten and Tom Petes for helpful discussions.



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