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  • The EMBO Journal (2006) 25, 3856 - 3868
  • doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601254

Published online: 3 August 2006

Nud1p, the yeast homolog of Centriolin, regulates spindle pole body inheritance in meiosis

Oren Gordon1,a, Christof Taxis2,a, Philipp J Keller2, Aleksander Benjak2, Ernst HK Stelzer2, Giora Simchen1 and Michael Knop2

  1. Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
  2. Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany

Correspondence to:

Giora Simchen, Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. Tel.: +972 2 658 5106; Fax: +972 2 658 6975; E-mail: simchen@vms.huji.ac.il

Michael Knop, Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, EMBL, Meyerhofstrasse, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. Tel.: +49 6221 387631; Fax: +49 6221 387512; E-mail: knop@embl.de

aThese authors contributed equally to this work

Received 22 February 2006; Accepted 3 July 2006

Nud1p, a protein homologous to the mammalian centrosome and midbody component Centriolin, is a component of the budding yeast spindle pole body (SPB), with roles in anchorage of microtubules and regulation of the mitotic exit network during vegetative growth. Here we analyze the function of Nud1p during yeast meiosis. We find that a nud1-2 temperature-sensitive mutant has two meiosis-related defects that reflect genetically distinct functions of Nud1p. First, the mutation affects spore formation due to its late function during spore maturation. Second, and most important, the mutant loses its ability to distinguish between the ages of the four spindle pole bodies, which normally determine which SPB would be preferentially included in the mature spores. This affects the regulation of genome inheritance in starved meiotic cells and leads to the formation of random dyads instead of non-sister dyads under these conditions. Both functions of Nud1p are connected to the ability of Spc72p to bind to the outer plaque and half-bridge (via Kar1p) of the SPB.

  • Keywords:

    • Centriolin,
    • meiosis,
    • Nud1p,
    • spindle polarity,
    • yeast