Abstract
During meiosis, a single round of DNA replication is followed by two consecutive rounds of nuclear divisions called meiosis I and meiosis II. In meiosis I, homologous chromosomes segregate, while sister chromatids remain together. Determining how this unusual chromosome segregation behavior is established is central to understanding germ cell development. Here we show that preventing microtubule-kinetochore interactions during premeiotic S phase and prophase I is essential for establishing the meiosis I chromosome segregation pattern. Premature interactions of kinetochores with microtubules transform meiosis I into a mitosis-like division by disrupting two key meiosis I events: coorientation of sister kinetochores and protection of centromeric cohesin removal from chromosomes. Furthermore we find that restricting outer kinetochore assembly contributes to preventing premature engagement of microtubules with kinetochores. We propose that inhibition of microtubule-kinetochore interactions during premeiotic S phase and prophase I is central to establishing the unique meiosis I chromosome segregation pattern.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00117.001.
Highlights
Cells have evolved intricate mechanisms to execute proper partitioning of the genetic material during cell division
We previously reported that CLB3 expression prior to meiosis I induces a change in the pattern of chromosome segregation such that sister chromatids, instead of homologous chromosomes, segregate during the first nuclear division (Carlile and Amon, 2008)
To determine how Clb-Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) impact meiotic chromosome segregation and whether Clb-CDKs play redundant or specific roles in regulating this process, we examined the consequences of prematurely expressing CLB1, CLB3, CLB4 or CLB5
Summary
Cells have evolved intricate mechanisms to execute proper partitioning of the genetic material during cell division. This task is especially complex in meiosis, the cell division used by sexually reproducing organisms to generate gametes. Meiosis II resembles mitosis in that sister chromatids segregate from each other. The establishment of this specialized chromosome segregation pattern requires three changes that modulate how chromosomes interact with each other and with the microtubule cytoskeleton: (1) reciprocal recombination between homologous chromosomes, (2) the way linkages between sister chromatids, known as sister-chromatid cohesion, are removed from chromosomes and (3) the manner in which chromosomes attach to the meiotic spindle
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