Kinetochore asymmetry defines a single yeast lineage.

ABSTRACT: Asymmetric cell division is of fundamental importance in biology as it allows for the establishment of separate cell lineages during the development of multicellular organisms. Although microbial systems, including the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are excellent models of asymmetric cell division, this phenotype occurs in all cell divisions; consequently, models of lineage-specific segregation patterns in these systems do not exist. Here, we report the first example of lineage-specific asymmetric division in yeast. We used fluorescent tags to show that components of the yeast kinetochore, the protein complex that anchors chromosomes to the mitotic spindle, divide asymmetrically in a single postmeiotic lineage. This phenotype is not seen in vegetatively dividing haploid or diploid cells.

SUBMITTER: Thorpe PH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2672522 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature