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Mediation of meiotic and early mitotic chromosome segregation in Drosophila by a protein related to kinesin

Nature volume 345, pages 81–83 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

CONTRARY to the traditional view that microtubules pull chromosomes polewards during the anaphase stage of meiotic and mitotic cell divisions, new evidence suggests that the chromosome movements are driven by a motor located at the kinetochore1–3. The process of chromosome segregation involves proper arrangement of kinetochores for spindle attachment, followed by spindle attachment and chromosome movement. Mechanisms in Drosophila for chromosome segregation in meiosis differ in males and females4, implying the action of different gene products in the two sexes. A product encoded at the claret locus in Drosophila is required for normal chromosome segregation in meiosis in females and in early mitotic divisions of the embryo. Here we show that the predicted amino-acid sequence of this product is related to the heavy chain of kinesin5. The conserved region corresponds to the kinesin motor domain and includes the ATP-binding site and a region that can bind microtubules. A second region contains a leucine repeat motif which may mediate protein–subunit interactions necessary for attachment of chromosomes to the spindle. The mutant phenotype of chromosome nondisjunction and loss, and its similarity to the kinesin ATP-binding domain, suggest that the product encoded at claret not only stabilizes chromosome attachments to the spindle, but may also be a motor that drives chromosome segregation in female meiosis.

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Author notes

  1. Linda Soler-Niedziela

    Present address: Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

  2. Sharyn A. Endow: To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, 27710, USA

    Sharyn A. Endow & Linda Soler-Niedziela

  2. Fred Hutchmson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, 98104, USA

    Steven Henikoff

Authors
  1. Sharyn A. Endow
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  2. Steven Henikoff
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  3. Linda Soler-Niedziela
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Endow, S., Henikoff, S. & Soler-Niedziela, L. Mediation of meiotic and early mitotic chromosome segregation in Drosophila by a protein related to kinesin. Nature 345, 81–83 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/345081a0

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