QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 20 July 2004
doi: 10.1242/jcs.01248

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: jcs.01248v1 117/17/3875    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yamamoto, T. G. Articles by Hiraoka, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yamamoto, T. G. Articles by Hiraoka, Y. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Activation of the pheromone-responsive MAP kinase drives haploid cells to undergo ectopic meiosis with normal telomere clustering and sister chromatid segregation in fission yeast

¹ Cell Biology Group and CREST Research Project, Kansai Advanced Research Center, National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 588-2 Iwaoka-cho, Iwaoka, Nishi-ku, Kobe 651-2492, Japan
² Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, 560-0043, Japan
³ Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue, 690-8504, Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: yasushi{at}nict.go.jp)

Accepted 6 April 2004

Meiosis is a process of importance for sexually reproducing eukaryotic organisms. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, meiosis normally proceeds in a diploid zygote which is produced by conjugation of haploid cells of opposite mating types. We demonstrate that activation of the pheromone-responsive MAPK, Spk1, by the ectopic expression of a constitutively active form of Byr1 (MAPKK for Spk1) induced the cells to undergo meiosis while in the haploid state. Moreover, the induction of meiosis required Mei2 (a key positive regulator of meiosis), but did not require Mei3; Mei3 is normally required to inactivate the Pat1 kinase (a negative regulator of Mei2) thereby allowing Mei2 to drive meiosis. Therefore, expression of a constitutively active form of Byr1 activates Mei2 without the need of Mei3. In cells induced to undergo meiosis by activating the Spk1 MAPK signaling pathway, telomeres clustered at the spindle pole body (SPB) and centromeres detached normally from the SPB during meiotic prophase, and the cells showed the correct segregation of sister chromatids during meiotic divisions. In contrast, in meiosis induced by inactivation of Pat1, sister chromatids segregate precociously during the first meiotic division. Thus, these results suggest that activation of Spk1 drives meiosis in S. pombe.

Key words: Telomere, Centromere, Sister chromatid, Meiosis, MAP kinase

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Trelles-Sticken, C. Adelfalk, J. Loidl, and H. Scherthan Meiotic telomere clustering requires actin for its formation and cohesin for its resolution J. Cell Biol., July 18, 2005; 170(2): 213 - 223. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Asakawa, A. Hayashi, T. Haraguchi, and Y. Hiraoka Dissociation of the Nuf2-Ndc80 Complex Releases Centromeres from the Spindle-Pole Body during Meiotic Prophase in Fission Yeast Mol. Biol. Cell, May 1, 2005; 16(5): 2325 - 2338. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kjaerulff, I. Lautrup-Larsen, S. Truelsen, M. Pedersen, and O. Nielsen Constitutive Activation of the Fission Yeast Pheromone-Responsive Pathway Induces Ectopic Meiosis and Reveals Ste11 as a Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Target Mol. Cell. Biol., March 1, 2005; 25(5): 2045 - 2059. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]