title: Arabidopsis separase functions beyond the removal of sister chromatid cohesion during meiosis.
abstract: Separase is a capase family protease that is required for the release of sister chromatid cohesion during meiosis and mitosis. Proteolytic cleavage of the alpha-kleisin subunit of the cohesin complex at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition is essential for the proper segregation of chromosomes. In addition to its highly conserved role in cleaving the alpha-kleisin subunit, separase appears to have acquired additional diverse activities in some organisms, including involvement in mitotic and meiotic anaphase spindle assembly and elongation, interphase spindle pole body positioning, and epithelial cell reorganization. Results from the characterization of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) separase (ESP) demonstrated that meiotic expression of ESP RNA interference blocked the proper removal of cohesin from chromosomes and resulted in the presence of a mixture of fragmented chromosomes and intact bivalents. The presence of large numbers of intact bivalents raised the possibility that separase may also have multiple roles in Arabidopsis. In this report, we show that meiotic expression of ESP RNA interference blocks the removal of cohesin during both meiosis I and II, results in alterations in nonhomologous centromere association, disrupts the radial microtubule system after telophase II, and affects the proper establishment of nuclear cytoplasmic domains, resulting in the formation of multinucleate microspores.
authors: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA.
authors: Xiaohui
authors: X
authors: Yang
authors: Kingsley A
authors: KA
authors: Boateng
authors: Lara
authors: L
authors: Strittmatter
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Burgess
authors: Christopher A
authors: CA
authors: Makaroff
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002842:Chromatids / Q000502:physiology*; D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000502:physiology*; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology; D034622:RNA Interference; D064247:Separase
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D010450:Endopeptidases; C577985:AESP protein, Arabidopsis; D064247:Separase