title: Positioning cytokinesis.
abstract: Cytokinesis is the terminal step of the cell cycle during which a mother cell divides into daughter cells. Often, the machinery of cytokinesis is positioned in such a way that daughter cells are born roughly equal in size. However, in many specialized cell types or under certain environmental conditions, the cell division machinery is placed at nonmedial positions to produce daughter cells of different sizes and in many cases of different fates. Here we review the different mechanisms that position the division machinery in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell types. We also describe cytokinesis-positioning mechanisms that are not adequately explained by studies in model organisms and model cell types.
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. snejana@tll.org.sg
authors.forename: Snezhana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oliferenko
authors.forename: Ting Gang
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Chew
authors.forename: Mohan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Balasubramanian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology*; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000502:physiology*