1. A novel chromosome segregation mechanism during female meiosis.
- Author
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McNally KP, Panzica MT, Kim T, Cortes DB, and McNally FJ
- Subjects
- Anaphase physiology, Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans genetics, Caenorhabditis elegans metabolism, Female, Kinetochores metabolism, Microtubules genetics, Microtubules metabolism, Microtubules physiology, Spindle Apparatus genetics, Spindle Apparatus metabolism, Spindle Poles metabolism, Caenorhabditis elegans cytology, Chromosome Segregation physiology, Meiosis physiology, Spindle Apparatus physiology
- Abstract
In a wide range of eukaryotes, chromosome segregation occurs through anaphase A, in which chromosomes move toward stationary spindle poles, anaphase B, in which chromosomes move at the same velocity as outwardly moving spindle poles, or both. In contrast, Caenorhabditis elegans female meiotic spindles initially shorten in the pole-to-pole axis such that spindle poles contact the outer kinetochore before the start of anaphase chromosome separation. Once the spindle pole-to-kinetochore contact has been made, the homologues of a 4-μm-long bivalent begin to separate. The spindle shortens an additional 0.5 μm until the chromosomes are embedded in the spindle poles. Chromosomes then separate at the same velocity as the spindle poles in an anaphase B-like movement. We conclude that the majority of meiotic chromosome movement is caused by shortening of the spindle to bring poles in contact with the chromosomes, followed by separation of chromosome-bound poles by outward sliding., (© 2016 McNally et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).)
- Published
- 2016
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