High-voltage electron tomography of spindle pole bodies and early mitotic spindles in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACT: The spindle pole body (SPB) is the major microtubule-organizing center of budding yeast and is the functional equivalent of the centrosome in higher eukaryotic cells. We used fast-frozen, freeze-substituted cells in conjunction with high-voltage electron tomography to study the fine structure of the SPB and the events of early spindle formation. Individual structures were imaged at 5-10 nm resolution in three dimensions, significantly better than can be achieved by serial section electron microscopy. The SPB is organized in distinct but coupled layers, two of which show ordered two-dimensional packing. The SPB central plaque is anchored in the nuclear envelope with hook-like structures. The minus ends of nuclear microtubules (MTs) are capped and are tethered to the SPB inner plaque, wherea

SUBMITTER: O'Toole ET 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC25406 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature