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Control of centrosomes and kinetochores by telomeres in meiosis
Author(s) -
Cooper Julia Promisel,
Bez Cécile,
Fennell Alex,
Klutstein Michael,
Tomita Kazunori
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.462.1
Subject(s) - spindle pole body , meiosis , biology , prophase , microbiology and biotechnology , kinetochore , centrosome , chromosome segregation , telomere , centromere , mitosis , spindle apparatus , genetics , chromosome , cell division , cell , cell cycle , dna , gene
While telomeres have well‐studied roles in preserving the integrity of chromosome ends, they play radically different and fundamentally important roles in meiosis; understanding these roles will not only shed light on mechanisms ensuring successful sexual reproduction but also on mitotic growth. During meiotic prophase, all the telomeres in the cell cluster at the nuclear periphery to form the highly conserved ‘bouquet’ structure. The fission yeast bouquet associates with the spindle pole body (SPB; the fission yeast centrosome equivalent) and can be specifically disrupted by mutating telomere proteins or meiosis‐specific proteins that connect the telomere complex with the SPB, allowing functional analysis. We have shown that the bouquet is required for proper meiotic spindle formation (Tomita & Cooper, Cell 2007). We find that while the SPB duplicates properly in the absence of the bouquet, the duplicated SPBs often fail to separate and show defects γ‐tubulin complex (γ‐TUC) localization to the spindle poles, suggesting that the bouquet modifies an SPB protein that controls γ‐TUC recruitment. Bouquet‐defective cells can overcome these challenges and form proper meiotic spindles if their SPBs become transiently associated with nontelomeric heterochromatin during meiotic prophase, highlighting the importance of chromatin‐SPB interactions for promoting spindle formation. Finally, we present data leading to the provocative idea that the bouquet influences meiotic kinetochore assembly and centromere‐spindle attachment.