Brief Report

Mutations in the -Tubulin 67C Gene Specifically Impair Achiasmate Segregation in Drosophila melanogaster

Correspondence to: R. Scott Hawley, Department of Genetics, Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616. Tel:(530) 752-5146 Fax:(530) 752-1185 E-mail:shawley{at}netcom.com.

Drosophila melanogaster oocytes heterozygous for mutations in the -tubulin 67C gene (tub67C) display defects in centromere positioning during prometaphase of meiosis I. The centromeres do not migrate to the poleward edges of the chromatin mass, and the chromatin fails to stretch during spindle lengthening. These results suggest that the poleward forces acting at the kinetochore are compromised in the tub67C mutants. Genetic studies demonstrate that these mutations also strongly and specifically decrease the fidelity of achiasmate chromosome segregation. Proper centromere orientation, chromatin elongation, and faithful segregation can all be restored by a decrease in the amount of the Nod chromokinesin. These results suggest that the accurate segregation of achiasmate chromosomes requires the proper balancing of forces acting on the chromosomes during prometaphase.

Key Words: chromosome, kinesin, meiosis, centromeres, meiotic spindle

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Turner, T. L., Levine, M. T., Eckert, M. L., Begun, D. J. (2008). Genomic Analysis of Adaptive Differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 179: 455-473 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Thomas, S. E., McKee, B. D. (2007). Meiotic Pairing and Disjunction of Mini-X Chromosomes in Drosophila Is Mediated by 240-bp rDNA Repeats and the Homolog Conjunction Proteins SNM and MNM. Genetics 177: 785-799 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Venkei, Z., Gaspar, I., Toth, G., Szabad, J. (2006). {alpha}4-Tubulin is involved in rapid formation of long microtubules to push apart the daughter centrosomes during earlyx Drosophila embryogenesis. J. Cell Sci. 119: 3238-3248 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cui, W., Hawley, R. S. (2005). The HhH(2)/NDD Domain of the Drosophila Nod Chromokinesin-like Protein Is Required for Binding to Chromosomes in the Oocyte Nucleus. Genetics 171: 1823-1835 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cui, W., Sproul, L. R., Gustafson, S. M., Matthies, H. J.G., Gilbert, S. P., Hawley, R. S. (2005). Drosophila Nod Protein Binds Preferentially to the Plus Ends of Microtubules and Promotes Microtubule Polymerization In Vitro. Mol. Biol. Cell 16: 5400-5409 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Davis, L., Smith, G. R. (2005). Dynein Promotes Achiasmate Segregation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Genetics 170: 581-590 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Paluh, J. L., Killilea, A. N., Detrich, H. W. 3rd, Downing, K. H. (2004). Meiosis-specific Failure of Cell Cycle Progression in Fission Yeast by Mutation of a Conserved {beta}-Tubulin Residue. Mol. Biol. Cell 15: 1160-1171 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Harris, D., Orme, C., Kramer, J., Namba, L., Champion, M., Palladino, M. J., Natzle, J., Hawley, R. S. (2003). A Deficiency Screen of the Major Autosomes Identifies a Gene (matrimony) That Is Haplo-insufficient for Achiasmate Segregation in Drosophila Oocytes. Genetics 165: 637-652 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Giunta, K. L., Jang, J. K., Manheim, E. A., Subramanian, G., McKim, K. S. (2002). subito Encodes a Kinesin-like Protein Required for Meiotic Spindle Pole Formation in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 160: 1489-1501 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Matthies, H. J.G., Baskin, R. J., Hawley, R. S. (2001). Orphan Kinesin NOD Lacks Motile Properties But Does Possess a Microtubule-stimulated ATPase Activity. Mol. Biol. Cell 12: 4000-4012 [Abstract] [Full Text]  

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents