Electron-microscopic study of the spindle and chromosome movement in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1976 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.B. Peterson ◽  
H. Ris

Mitosis in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated in thick (0-25-I mum) serial sections with a high voltage electron microscope and in preparations of spheroplasts spread on a water surface. Spindle microtubules originate from a plaque-like structure called the spindle pole bosis the SPB duplicates and a set of long and short microtubules develops on each SPB. The spindle arises as the SPBs separate on the nuclear membrane adense and are not individually visible. Genetic studies, however, have indicated that there are 17 linkage groups. The number of microtubules was determined in diploid and haploid spindles on serial stereo micrographs. In diploid mitosis about 40 microtubules issue from a SPB. Most are non-continuous and often they are visibly associated with a chromatin fibre. The spindle in haploid cells is similar except that the number of microtubules is about half that in diploid cells and the SPB is smaller. The pole-to-pole microtubules vary in number from spindle to spindle, but in each case enough microtubules are present to account for each linkage group being associated with a single non-continuous microtubule. We conclude that mitosis in yeast is comparable in its general aspect to that observed in typical eukaryotes.

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (4) ◽  
pp. 1493-1502
Author(s):  
Richard D Gardner ◽  
Atasi Poddar ◽  
Chris Yellman ◽  
Penny A Tavormina ◽  
M Cristina Monteagudo ◽  
...  

Abstract We have measured the activity of the spindle checkpoint in null mutants lacking kinetochore activity in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We constructed deletion mutants for nonessential genes by one-step gene replacements. We constructed heterozygous deletions of one copy of essential genes in diploid cells and purified spores containing the deletion allele. In addition, we made gene fusions for three essential genes to target the encoded proteins for proteolysis (degron alleles). We determined that Ndc10p, Ctf13p, and Cep3p are required for checkpoint activity. In contrast, cells lacking Cbf1p, Ctf19p, Mcm21p, Slk19p, Cse4p, Mif2p, Mck1p, and Kar3p are checkpoint proficient. We conclude that the kinetochore plays a critical role in checkpoint signaling in S. cerevisiae. Spindle checkpoint activity maps to a discreet domain within the kinetochore and depends on the CBF3 protein complex.


1995 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Yeh ◽  
R V Skibbens ◽  
J W Cheng ◽  
E D Salmon ◽  
K Bloom

We have used time-lapse digital- and video-enhanced differential interference contrast (DE-DIC, VE-DIC) microscopy to study the role of dynein in spindle and nuclear dynamics in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The real-time analysis reveals six stages in the spindle cycle. Anaphase B onset appears marked by a rapid phase of spindle elongation, simultaneous with nuclear migration into the daughter cell. The onset and kinetics of rapid spindle elongation are identical in wild type and dynein mutants. In the absence of dynein the nucleus does not migrate as close to the neck as in wild-type cells and initial spindle elongation is confined primarily to the mother cell. Rapid oscillations of the elongating spindle between the mother and bud are observed in wild-type cells, followed by a slower growth phase until the spindle reaches its maximal length. This stage is protracted in the dynein mutants and devoid of oscillatory motion. Thus dynein is required for rapid penetration of the nucleus into the bud and anaphase B spindle dynamics. Genetic analysis reveals that in the absence of a functional central spindle (ndcl), dynein is essential for chromosome movement into the bud. Immunofluorescent localization of dynein-beta-galactosidase fusion proteins reveals that dynein is associated with spindle pole bodies and the cell cortex: with spindle pole body localization dependent on intact microtubules. A kinetic analysis of nuclear movement also revealed that cytokinesis is delayed until nuclear translocation is completed, indicative of a surveillance pathway monitoring nuclear transit into the bud.


Genetics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 859-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Schild ◽  
Breck Byers

ABSTRACT The meiotic effects of two cell-division-cycle mutations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (cdc5 and cdc14) have been examined. These mutations were isolated by L. H. Hartwell and his colleagues and characterized as defective in mitosis, causing a temperature-sensitive arrest in late nuclear division. When subjected to the restrictive temperature in meiosis, diploid cells homozygous for either of these mutations generally proceeded through premeiotic DNA synthesis and commitment to meiotic levels of recombination, but then arrested at a stage following spindle pole body (SPB) duplication and separation. The two SPBs lacked the interconnection by spindle microtubules typical of the complete meiosis I spindle. Challenge of these homozygotes by a semi-restrictive temperature often caused the production of asci containing two diploid spores. Genetic analysis of the viable pairs of spores revealed that each spore had become homozygous for centromere-linked markers significantly more frequently than for distal markers, indicating that the two spores each contained pairs of sister centromeres that had co-segregated in the reductional division of meiosis I. Ultrastructural analysis of the cdc5 homozygote demonstrated that these cells had completed meiosis I and formed two meiosis II spindles, but that the latter remained unusually short. This resulted in the encapsulation of both poles of each spindle within a single spore wall. These mutations therefore are defective in both meiotic divisions, as well as in the mitotic division described originally.


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.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 3992-3998
Author(s):  
A M Dranginis

STA1 encodes a secreted glucoamylase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus. Glucoamylase secretion is controlled by the mating type locus MAT; a and alpha haploid yeast cells secrete high levels of the enzyme, but a/alpha diploid cells produce undetectable amounts. It has been suggested that STA1 is regulated by MATa2 (I. Yamashita, Y. Takano, and S. Fukui, J. Bacteriol. 164:769-773, 1985), which is a MAT transcript of previously unknown function. In contrast, this work shows that deletion of the entire MATa2 gene had no effect on STA1 regulation but that deletion of MATa1 sequences completely abolished mating-type control. In all cases, glucoamylase activity levels reflected STA1 mRNA levels. It appears that STA1 is a haploid-specific gene that is regulated by MATa1 and a product of the MAT alpha locus and that this regulation occurs at the level of RNA accumulation. STA1 expression was also shown to be glucose repressible. STA1 mRNA was induced in diploids during sporulation along with SGA, a closely linked gene that encodes an intracellular sporulation-specific glucoamylase of S. cerevisiae. A diploid strain with a MATa1 deletion showed normal induction of STA1 in sporulation medium, but SGA expression was abolished. Therefore, these two homologous and closely linked glucoamylase genes are induced by different mechanisms during sporulation. STA1 induction may be a response to the starvation conditions necessary for sporulation, while SGA induction is governed by the pathway by which MAT regulates sporulation. The strain containing a complete deletion of MATa2 grew, mated, and sporulated normally.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 3308-3316 ◽  
Author(s):  
B R Cairns ◽  
N L Henry ◽  
R D Kornberg

The SWI1/ADR6, SWI2/SNF2, SWI3, SNF5, and SNF6 gene products are all required for proper transcriptional control of many genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetic studies indicated that these gene products might form a multiprotein SWI/SNF complex important for chromatin transitions preceding transcription from RNA polymerase II promoters. Biochemical studies identified a SWI/SNF complex containing these and at least six additional polypeptides. Here we show that the 29-kDa component of the SWI/SNF complex is identical to TFG3/TAF30/ANC1. Thus, a component of the SWI/SNF complex is also a member of the TFIIF and TFIID transcription complexes. TFG3 interacted with the SNF5 component of the SWI/SNF complex in protein interaction blots. TFG3 is significantly similar to ENL and AF-9, two proteins implicated in human acute leukemia. These results suggest that ENL and AF-9 proteins interact with the SNF5 component of the human SWI/SNF complex and raise the possibility that the SWI/SNF complex is involved in acute leukemia.


1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
H B Kim ◽  
B K Haarer ◽  
J R Pringle

Budding cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possess a ring of 10-nm-diameter filaments, of unknown biochemical nature, that lies just inside the plasma membrane in the neck connecting the mother cell to its bud. Electron microscopic observations suggest that these filaments assemble at the budding site coincident with bud emergence and disassemble shortly before cytokinesis (Byers, B. and L. Goetsch. 1976. J. Cell Biol. 69:717-721). Mutants defective in any of four genes (CDC3, CDC10, CDC11, or CDC12) lack these filaments and display a pleiotropic phenotype that involves abnormal bud growth and an inability to complete cytokinesis. We showed previously by immunofluorescence that the CDC12 gene product is probably a constituent of the ring of 10-nm filaments (Haarer, B. and J. Pringle. 1987. Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:3678-3687). We now report the use of fusion proteins to generate polyclonal antibodies specific for the CDC3 gene product. In immunofluorescence experiments, these antibodies decorated the neck regions of wild-type and mutant cells in patterns suggesting that the CDC3 gene product is also a constituent of the ring of 10-nm filaments. We also used the CDC3-specific and CDC12-specific antibodies to investigate the timing of localization of these proteins to the budding site. The results suggest that the CDC3 protein is organized into a ring at the budding site well before bud emergence and remains so organized for some time after cytokinesis. The CDC12 product appears to behave similarly, but may arrive at the budding site closer to the time of bud emergence, and disappear from that site more quickly after cytokinesis, than does the CDC3 product. Examination of mating cells and cells responding to purified mating pheromone revealed novel arrangements of the CDC3 and CDC12 products in the regions of cell wall reorganization. Both proteins were present in normal-looking ring structures at the bases of the first zygotic buds.


1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Palmer ◽  
D S Sullivan ◽  
T Huffaker ◽  
D Koshland

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, before the onset of anaphase, the spindle apparatus is always positioned with one spindle pole at, or through, the neck between the mother cell and the growing bud. This spindle orientation enables proper chromosome segregation to occur during anaphase, allowing one replicated genome to be segregated into the bud and the other to remain in the mother cell. In this study, we synchronized a population of cells before the onset of anaphase such that > 90% of the cells in the population had spindles with the correct orientation, and then disrupted specific cytoskeletal elements using temperature-sensitive mutations. Disruption of either the astral microtubules or actin function resulted in improper spindle orientation in approximately 40-50% of the cells. When cells with disrupted astral microtubules or actin function entered into anaphase, there was a 100-200-fold increase in the frequency of binucleated cell bodies. Thus, the maintenance of proper spindle orientation by these cytoskeletal elements was essential for proper chromosome segregation. These data are consistent with the model that proper spindle orientation is maintained by directly or indirectly tethering the astral microtubules to the actin cytoskeleton. After nuclear migration, but before anaphase, bulk chromosome movement occurs within the nucleus apparently because the chromosomes are attached to a mobile spindle. The frequency and magnitude of bulk chromosome movement is greatly diminished by disruption of the astral microtubules but not by disruption of the nonkinetochore spindle microtubules. These results suggest that astral microtubules are not only important for spindle orientation before anaphase, but they also mediate force on the spindle, generating spindle displacement and in turn chromosome movement. Potential roles for this force in spindle assembly and orientation are discussed.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-659
Author(s):  
Kochung Tsui ◽  
Lee Simon ◽  
David Norris

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two genes for histone H2A and two for histone H2B located in two divergently transcribed gene pairs: HTA1-HTB1 and HTA2-HTB2. Diploid strains lacking HTA1-HTB1 (hta1-htb1Δ/hta1-htb1Δ, HTA2-HTB2/HTA2-HTB2) grow vegetatively, but will not sporulate. This sporulation phenotype results from a partial depletion of H2A-H2B dimers. Since the expression patterns of HTA1-HTB1 and HTA2-HTB2 are similar in mitosis and meiosis, the sporulation pathway is therefore more sensitive than the mitotic cycle to depletion of H2A-H2B dimers. After completing premeiotic DNA replication, commitment to meiotic recombination, and chiasma resolution, the hta1-htb1Δ/hta1-htb1Δ, HTA2-HTB2/HTA2-HTB2 mutant arrests before the first meiotic division. The arrest is not due to any obvious disruptions in spindle pole bodies or microtubules. The meiotic block is not bypassed in backgrounds homozygous for spo13, rad50Δ, or rad9Δ mutations, but is bypassed in the presence of hydroxyurea, a drug known to inhibit DNA chain elongation. We hypothesize that the deposition of H2A-H2B dimers in the mutant is unable to keep pace with the replication fork, thereby leading to a disruption in chromosome structure that interferes with the meiotic divisions.


1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
C.N. Gordon

Chromatin behaviour during the cell division cycle of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been investigated in cells which have been depleted of 90% of their RNA by digestion with ribonuclease. Removal of large amounts of RNA from the yeast nucleus before treatment of the cells with heavy metal fixatives and stains permits chromatin to be visualized with extreme clarity in thin sections of cells processed for electron microscopy by conventional procedures. Spindle pole bodies were also visualized by this treatment, although the associated microtubules were not. Chromatin is dispersed during interphase and occupies the non-nucleolar region of the nucleus which is known to be Feulgen-positive from light microscopy. Because spindle microtubules are not visualized, direct attachment of microtubules to chromatin fibrils could not be verified. However, chromatin was not attached directly to the spindle pole bodies and kinetochore differentiations were not observed in the nucleoplasm. During nuclear division chromatin remains dispersed and does not condense into discrete chromatids. As the nucleus expands into the bud, chromosomal distribution to the daughter cells is thought to result from the separation of the poles of the spindle apparatus with attached chromatin fibrils. However, that such distribution is occurring as the nucleus elongates is not obvious until an advanced stage of nuclear division is reached and partition of the nucleus is nearly complete. Thus, no aggregation of chromatin into metaphase or anaphase plates occurs and the appearance of chromatin during mitosis is essentially the same as in interphase. These observations indicate that the marked changes in the topological structure of chromatin which characterize mitosis in the higher eukaryotes do not occur in S. cerevisiae.


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