title: Flies stretch their cells to avoid a chromatin trap.
abstract: Before the final step of cytokinesis, termed abscission, dividing cells need to ensure that the cleavage plane is clear of chromatin. In this issue, Kotadia et al. (2012. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/jcb.201208041) show that in Drosophila melanogaster, larval neuroblasts elongate to allow segregation of extra-long chromatids and clearance of the midzone, thereby avoiding cytokinesis failure and aneuploidy.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3JR Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. mar.carmena@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmena
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology*; D002842:Chromatids / Q000378:metabolism*; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D048749:Cytokinesis; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*