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Vol. 16, Issue 10, 4684-4694, October 2005
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Waksman Institute and Department of Genetics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020
Submitted November 3, 2004;
Revised July 12, 2005;
Accepted July 19, 2005
Monitoring Editor: Ted Salmon
In the oocytes of many species, bipolar spindles form in the absence of centrosomes. Drosophila melanogaster oocyte chromosomes have a major role in nucleating microtubules, which precedes the bundling and assembly of these microtubules into a bipolar spindle. Here we present evidence that a region similar to the anaphase central spindle functions to organize acentrosomal spindles. Subito mutants are characterized by the formation of tripolar or monopolar spindles and nondisjunction of homologous chromosomes at meiosis I. Subito encodes a kinesinlike protein and associates with the meiotic central spindle, consistent with its classification in the Kinesin 6/MKLP1 family. This class of proteins is known to be required for cytokinesis, but our results suggest a new function in spindle formation. The meiotic central spindle appears during prometaphase and includes passenger complex proteins such as AurB and Incenp. Unlike mitotic cells, the passenger proteins do not associate with centromeres before anaphase. In the absence of Subito, central spindle formation is defective and AurB and Incenp fail to properly localize. We propose that Subito is required for establishing and/or maintaining the central spindle in Drosophila oocytes, and this substitutes for the role of centrosomes in organizing the bipolar spindle.
The online version of this article contains supplemental material at MBC Online (http://www.molbiolcell.org).
Address correspondence to: Kim S. McKim (mckim{at}rci.rutgers.edu).
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