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Vol. 12, Issue 12, 4054-4065, December 2001

Microtubule Flux Mediates Poleward Motion of Acentric Chromosome Fragments during Meiosis in Insect Spermatocytes

James R. LaFountain Jr.,^* Rudolf Oldenbourg, Richard W. Cole,^§ and Conly L. Rieder^§

 ^*Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260;  Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543;  ^§Laboratory of Cell Regulation, Division of Molecular Medicine, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York 12201-0509; and  Department of Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222

We applied a combination of laser microsurgery and quantitative polarization microscopy to study kinetochore-independent forces that act on chromosome arms during meiosis in crane fly spermatocytes. When chromosome arms located within one of the half-spindles during prometa- or metaphase were cut with the laser, the acentric fragments (lacking kinetochores) that were generated moved poleward with velocities similar to those of anaphase chromosomes (~0.5 µm/min). To determine the mechanism underlying this poleward motion of detached arms, we treated spermatocytes with the microtubule-stabilizing drug taxol. Spindles in taxol-treated cells were noticeably short, yet with polarized light, the distribution and densities of microtubules in domains where fragment movement occurred were not different from those in control cells. When acentric fragments were generated in taxol-treated spermatocytes, 22 of 24 fragments failed to exhibit poleward motion, and the two that did move had velocities attenuated by 80% (to ~0.1 µm/min). In these cells, taxol did not inhibit the disjunction of chromosomes nor prevent their poleward segregation during anaphase, but the velocity of anaphase was also decreased 80% (~0.1 µm/min) relative to untreated controls. Together, these data reveal that microtubule flux exerts pole-directed forces on chromosome arms during meiosis in crane fly spermatocytes and strongly suggest that the mechanism underlying microtubule flux also is used in the anaphase motion of kinetochores in these cells.

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Online version of this article contains video material for certain figures. Online version available at www.molbiolcell.org.

Corresponding author: E-mail address: jrl{at}acsu.buffalo.edu.

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Molecular Biology of the Cell
Vol. 12, 4054-4065, December 2001
Copyright © 2001 by The American Society for Cell Biology

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