CENP-meta, an essential kinetochore kinesin required for the maintenance of metaphase chromosome alignment in Drosophila.
CENP-meta has been identified as an essential, kinesin-like motor protein in Drosophila. The 257-kD CENP-meta protein is most similar to the vertebrate kinetochore-associated kinesin-like protein CENP-E, and like CENP-E, is shown to be a component of centromeric/kinetochore regions of Drosophila chromosomes. However, unlike CENP-E, which leaves the centromere/kinetochore region at the end of anaphase A, the CENP-meta protein remains associated with the centromeric/kinetochore region of the chromosome during all stages of the Drosophila cell cycle. P-element-mediated disruption of the CENP-meta gene leads to late larval/pupal stage lethality with incomplete chromosome alignment at metaphase. Complete removal of CENP-meta from the female germline leads to lethality in early embryos resulting from defects in metaphase chromosome alignment. Real-time imaging of these mutants with GFP-labeled chromosomes demonstrates that CENP-meta is required for the maintenance of chromosomes at the metaphase plate, demonstrating that the functions required to establish and maintain chromosome congression have distinguishable requirements.
Yucel
J K
JK
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Marszalek
J D
JD
McIntosh
J R
JR
Goldstein
L S
LS
Cleveland
D W
DW
Philp
A V
AV
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000235:genetics; D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D018386:Kinetochores / Q000378:metabolism*; D008677:Metaphase / Q000235:genetics*; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis / Q000235:genetics; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; C411731:cana protein, Drosophila; C068688:centromere protein E; C411730:cmet protein, Drosophila