Mitotic chromosomes scale to nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio and cell size in Xenopus.

ABSTRACT: During the rapid and reductive cleavage divisions of early embryogenesis, subcellular structures such as the nucleus and mitotic spindle scale to decreasing cell size. Mitotic chromosomes also decrease in size during development, presumably to scale coordinately with mitotic spindles, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we combine in vivo and in vitro approaches using eggs and embryos from the frog Xenopus laevis to show that mitotic chromosome scaling is mechanistically distinct from other forms of subcellular scaling. We found that mitotic chromosomes scale continuously with cell, spindle, and nuclear size in vivo. However, unlike for spindles and nuclei, mitotic chromosome size cannot be reset by cytoplasmic factors from earlier developmental stages. In vitro, increas

SUBMITTER: Zhou CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10260010 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature