QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

Vol. 15, Issue 3, 1160-1171, March 2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) MBC Videos All Versions of this Article: E03-06-0389v1 15/3/1160    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Paluh, J. L. Articles by Downing, K. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Paluh, J. L. Articles by Downing, K. H.

Meiosis-specific Failure of Cell Cycle Progression in Fission Yeast by Mutation of a Conserved -Tubulin Residue

Janet L. Paluh ^* , Alison N. Killilea  , H. William Detrich, 3rd , and Kenneth H. Downing  ^||

^* Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467; Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720; and Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Submitted June 11, 2003; Revised October 15, 2003; Accepted November 5, 2003
Monitoring Editor: Tim Stearns

The microtubule cytoskeleton is involved in regulation of cell morphology, differentiation, and cell cycle progression. Precisely controlled dynamic properties are required for these microtubule functions. To better understand how tubulin's dynamics are embedded in its primary sequence, we investigated in vivo the consequences of altering a single, highly conserved residue in -tubulin that lies at the interface between two structural domains. The residue differs between the cold-adapted Antarctic fish and temperate animals in a manner that suggests a role in microtubule stability. Fungi, like the Antarctic fish, have a phenylalanine in this position, whereas essentially all other animals have tyrosine. We mutated the corresponding residue in fission yeast to tyrosine. Temperature effects were subtle, but time-lapse microscopy of microtubule dynamics revealed reduced depolymerization rates and increased stability. Mitotic exit signaled by breakdown of the mitotic spindle was delayed. In meiosis, microtubules displayed prolonged contact to the cell cortex during horsetail movement, followed by completion of meiosis I but frequent asymmetric failure of meiosis II spindle formation. Our results indicate that depolymerization dynamics modulated through interdomain motion may be important for regulating a subset of plus-end microtubule complexes in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

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

These authors contributed equally to this work.

^|| Corresponding author. E-mail address: khdowning{at}lbl.gov.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C.-H Christina Cheng and H William Detrich III Molecular ecophysiology of Antarctic notothenioid fishes Phil Trans R Soc B, December 29, 2007; 362(1488): 2215 - 2232. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]