title: A pre-anaphase role for a Cks/Suc1 in acentrosomal spindle formation of Drosophila female meiosis.
abstract: Conventional centrosomes are absent from a female meiotic spindle in many animals. Instead, chromosomes drive spindle assembly, but the molecular mechanism of this acentrosomal spindle formation is not well understood. We have screened female sterile mutations for defects in acentrosomal spindle formation in Drosophila female meiosis. One of them, remnants (rem), disrupted bipolar spindle morphology and chromosome alignment in non-activated oocytes. We found that rem encodes a conserved subunit of Cdc2 (Cks30A). As Drosophila oocytes arrest in metaphase I, the defect represents a new Cks function before metaphase-anaphase transition. In addition, we found that the essential pole components, Msps and D-TACC, were often mislocalized to the equator, which may explain part of the spindle defect. We showed that the second cks gene cks85A, in contrast, has an important role in mitosis. In conclusion, this study describes a new pre-anaphase role for a Cks in acentrosomal meiotic spindle formation.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK.
authors.forename: Neil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: C Fiona
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Nikola S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Dzhindzhev
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohkura
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000705:Anaphase / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D019926:Cyclin B / Q000378:metabolism; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D008677:Metaphase / Q000502:physiology; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012737:Sex Factors; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C503698:CycB protein, Drosophila; D019926:Cyclin B; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; C404402:TACC protein, Drosophila; C121511:msps protein, Drosophila; D012313:RNA; C504434:Cks30A protein, Drosophila; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases