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Anaphase spindle position is monitored by the BUB2 checkpoint

Nature Cell Biology volume 2, pages 556–558 (2000)Cite this article

Surveillance of the ordered process of mitosis in budding yeast is carried out by the spindle/kinetochore checkpoint, which was originally defined by genes with products that are required to prevent premature metaphase and subsequent mitotic exit in the presence of microtubule toxins1,2. The spindle-kinetochore checkpoint has been shown to be bifurcated3,4,5,6. The MAD/BUB checkpoint, which comprises MAD proteins 1–3, BUB1, BUB3 and MPS1, is required to delay metaphase until all chromosomes have attached to the mitotic spindle. The BUB2 checkpoint, which comprises BUB2, BFA1/BYR4 and MPS1, is required to delay the exit from mitosis, although it is currently unclear what event(s) is/are surveyed in this process7,8. In yeast cells lacking dynein or dynactin components, spindle breakdown and mitotic exit are prevented when both poles of a spindle are in the mother cell9,10,11,12. Here we show that loss of BUB2 eliminates this delay, resulting in production of anucleate cells. Our results indicate that the BUB2 checkpoint monitors the location of the anaphase spindle to ensure the distribution of one nucleus to each progeny cell.

The process of anaphase in budding yeast normally results in the placement of one spindle pole body in the mother cell and one in the bud. Cells lacking cytoplasmic dynein or dynactin components often initiate anaphase when the spindle is within the mother cell9,13. In most cases, one spindle-pole body migrates into the bud during anaphase, with little perturbation of mitotic progression. However, at low temperatures the anaphase spindle frequently becomes misaligned within the mother cell, resulting in a delay in anaphase spindle breakdown and mitotic exit. To determine whether components of the spindle/kinetochore checkpoint are required for this anaphase arrest, we investigated spindle dynamics and cell-cycle progression in dynein and dynactin mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that lack components of the spindle/kinetochore checkpoint.

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Figure 1: Improper orientation of anaphase spindles causes a BUB2-dependent delay in mitotic exit.
Figure 2: dyn1 bub2 mutants do not arrest with misorientated spindles produce anucleate cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Robinson, N. Mathias and E. Aamodt for comments on the manuscript, and D. Burke, A. Straight and A. Murray for strains, plasmids and helpful discussion. We also thank D. Burke for sharing data before publication. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM-477899.

Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to K.T. Supplementary Information is available on Nature Cell Biology’s World Wide Web site (http://www.nature.com/ncb).

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  1. Andrew Bloecher

    Present address: Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, Washington, 98109, USA

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 1501 Kings Highway , Shreveport, 71130, Louisiana, USA

    Andrew Bloecher, Guglielmo M. Venturi & Kelly Tatchell

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Bloecher, A., Venturi, G. & Tatchell, K. Anaphase spindle position is monitored by the BUB2 checkpoint. Nat Cell Biol 2, 556–558 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35019601

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