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Eukaryotic Cell, May 2007, p. 797-807, Vol. 6, No. 5
1535-9778/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/EC.00332-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York 13210,1 Department of Cell Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 631102
Received 17 October 2006/ Accepted 15 March 2007
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In S. cerevisiae, nuclear migration and spindle alignment are governed by the complex interplay of overlapping pathways (26). In order for these pathways to culminate in an asymmetric orientation of the spindle and accurate chromosome segregation, the cell must regulate the activities of these pathways in a precise temporal and spatial program. Although some aspects remain hotly contested, the major elements have been recently well summarized (26) and are briefly reiterated here. In the earliest stages of G1, the cell has a single spindle pole body (SPBold) with nucleated astral microtubules. The actin-interacting protein Bud6p (also referred to as Aip3p) localizes to the incipient bud site at the earliest stages of G1 (5) and can be observed to capture and induce shortening of the astral microtubules emanating from the SPBold, resulting in orientation of SPBold toward the soon to be emerging bud (52). At the G1/S boundary, SPB duplication is completed coincident with bud emergence (60). Due possibly in part to the conservative nature of SPB duplication (9), SPB asymmetry is rapidly established via two known mechanisms. First, transient inhibition of new microtubule nucleation by the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28p/Clb5p is thought to restrict astral microtubules solely to SPBold (53); second, Kar9p localization is established and restricted to SPBold (35, 37). The astral microtubules nucleated solely off SPBold are captured at the bud cortex at sites of Bud6p localization (52), thereby reinforcing ultimate segregation of SPBold to the daughter cell. This polarity is further reinforced as the Kar9p-Bim1p complex (initially restricted to SPBold) is moved to the plus ends of microtubules, presumably by the action of the Kip2p kinesin (37). The Myo2p motor then captures Kar9p via its cargo-binding tail domain and pulls these microtubule plus ends toward the bud cortex along longitudinally oriented actin cables (7, 63). These actin cables result from actin filament nucleation at the bud cortex by the formin Bni1p (46, 48, 49) and its activator, Bud6p (42). The importance of the actin cytoskeleton for the early positioning of SPBold is underscored by the spindle-positioning defects seen in mutants lacking Bni1p, Bud6p, or other actin-regulatory factors (32, 41, 47, 59, 62).
As the bud enlarges, Bud6p localization shifts from the bud cortex to the neck (5), where it can again be seen to capture microtubules nucleated from SPBold (25, 51); these interactions are thought to help stabilize orientation of the spindle. Finally, dynein motor activity (along with Arp1p and the dynactin complex) utilizing the Num1p cortical anchor for purchase is believed to pull and elongate the spindle through the neck in preparation for anaphase (12, 19, 34, 44, 54, 58, 61). Additional contributions to spindle position are made by three kinesin-related proteins, Kip2p, Kip3p, and Kar3p (15-17, 40, 50).
As indicated above, Bud6p displays a cell-cycle-regulated localization pattern. At START, it localizes to the incipient bud site and remains solely at the bud cortex until G2/M. It then begins to accumulate in the bud neck, where it remains until initiation of the next cell cycle (5). The Cdc42p effector Gic2p (GTPase interactive component) functions in recruiting Bud6p and Bni1p to activated Cdc42p, thereby initiating actin polarization (29). Shortly after bud emergence, Gic2p is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (28), but Bud6p continues to be transported to polarity sites in association with secretory vesicles via the actin-based motor protein Myo2p (31).
We report here that Bud6p also localizes to the SPBs and that this localization is dependent on Cnm67p, the most central component of the SPB outer plaque. This new aspect of the Bud6p localization pattern led us to investigate whether potential interactions between SPBs and the bud neck contribute to preanaphase spindle dynamics. Time-lapse analysis of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-bud6p-1 (a noncomplementing C-terminal truncation mutant) behavior in wild-type cells allowed us to examine SPB movement relative to Bud6p structures at the bud neck. This analysis showed extended periods of association between either SPB and the neck region. Furthermore, SPB-neck interactions appear to define a barrier that prevents the spindle from being pulled completely through the neck. In the absence of functional Bud6p, this apparent barrier is lost and preanaphase nuclei can be observed to swing completely through the neck into the mother or daughter cell bodies. In addition, cells bearing a bud6
allele progress more slowly through the G2/M phase of the cell cycle than do wild-type cells, possibly due to decreased nucleus-neck interactions prior to anaphase. Overexpression of BUD6, on the other hand, can accentuate SPB-neck interactions. Collectively, our observations have led us to propose a model whereby Bud6p stabilizes SPB-neck interactions to hold the nucleus in position for accurate segregation through mitosis and that these interactions also provide positive signals for progression into anaphase.
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TABLE 1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains used in this study
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Transformants that had successfully integrated the cnm67::kanR cassette were isolated based on (i) their ability to grow in media supplemented with G418 (200 mg/liter; Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and (ii) PCR analysis to verify heterozygosity for the CNM67 loci (CNM67/cnm67::kanR). Subsequent sporulation and dissection of positive candidates created AHY9. All tetrads segregated 2:2 for all markers tested; Kanr cosegregated with a slow-growth phenotype, in line with the previously reported growth behavior of a CNM67 null mutant (2). AHY13 was created by sporulation and tetrad dissection of AHY9x4.
Plasmid constructions and DNA manipulations. Plasmids are listed in Table 2. Plasmid pDP128 (gift from David Pruyne) was constructed by cloning the GFP-BUD6-containing EcoRI-SalI fragment from pDAb204 into pRS306. For genome integration at the ura3-52 locus, pDP128 was digested with StuI and transformed into yeast selecting for Ura+ colonies (strain AHY26). Plasmid pAH1 was constructed by digesting pXH133 (gift from Peter Sorger) with PvuI and cloning the SPC42-ECFP insert into PvuI-digested pRS305. pAH1 was linearized with NcoI to promote integration at the leu2 locus upon transformation into yeast.
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TABLE 2. Plasmids used in this study
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Microscopy.
For
-factor analysis, AHY5 was grown to
1 x 107 cells/ml. Cells were then diluted to 2 x 106 cells/ml, and
-factor (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was added to a final concentration of 5 µg/ml (1 mg/ml stock in water). Cells were incubated for
3 h (as opposed to the usual
105 min) to ensure spindle pole body outer-plaque removal (2). To depolymerize microtubules, FY23x86 cells were treated with 15 µg/ml nocodazole (from a 2-mg/ml stock in dimethyl sulfoxide; Sigma, St. Louis, MO) for up to 135 min at 25°C. For DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining other than that described below, cells were fixed using 70% ethanol and incubated in 0.1 µg/ml DAPI for 5 min prior to microscopic analysis.
For Cdc14-GFP experiments, wild-type and bud6
strains were treated with 12 µg/ml nocodazole at 25°C. Cells were examined directly from culture or fixed with formaldehyde, washed, and resuspended in glycerol mount containing 50 ng/ml DAPI to visualize DNA. The integrated Cdc14-GFP fusion construct was created by PCR amplification of the C-terminal fusion junction and downstream G418 resistance marker from strain YTC240 (10) and using the resulting PCR product to transform FY23x86 and DAY101x102. Resulting transformants were sporulated, and tetrads were dissected to generate wild-type and bud6
haploid strains (BHY444 and BHY443) that have GFP-Cdc14p as their sole source of Cdc14p.
For time-lapse analysis of GFP-bud6-1p SPB mobility, wild-type (FY23x86) or bud6
(DAY101x102) homozygous diploid cells carrying pDA257 were grown to mid-log phase in SC lacking uracil (for plasmid selection). Approximately 10 µl of culture was placed on a slide coated with SC in 25% gelatin. A coverslip was placed on top, and cells were observed for GFP fluorescence at
15- to 30-s intervals. Distances from SPB spots to the outer boundary of the GFP-bud6-1p neck rings were measured in pixels from the Openlab images, with positive values denoting measurements on the mother side of the neck rings and negative values on the daughter side. An arbitrary value of ±5 pixels (
0.33 µm) was chosen as the cutoff value for a given SPB to be considered "associated" with the GFP-bud6-1p neck ring structures. Time-lapse observations were begun when one of the SPBs fell within the 5-pixel range from the neck rings of medium- to large-budded cells, which were interpreted as preanaphase cells. Measurements from a given cell were discarded if the inter-SPB distance appeared to be consistently increasing (i.e., the cell was presumed to be entering anaphase). A neck-crossing event was judged to have occurred when a given SPB went from >5 pixels from the neck rings on one side of the neck to >5 pixels on the other side of the neck (e.g., migration of an SPB from daughter to mother cell).
An Axioskop 2 MOT (Carl Zeiss, Germany) with a Plan-APOCHROMAT 100x objective was used for microscopic analysis. Cells were grown to mid-log phase for analysis by epifluorescence using standard fluorescein isothiocyanate, GFP, and cyan fluorescent protein filter sets and by differential interference contrast. Images were captured with an ORCA-ER digital camera (Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) using Openlab software (Improvision, England). Adobe Photoshop (Adobe Systems, San Jose, CA) was used for final adjustments of the captured images.
Assays to determine the contributions of Arp1p, Bud6p, and Kar9p to spindle position.
Growth rates of YJC3677, -3681, -3685, -3689, -3693, -3697, -3701, and -3705 (Table 1) were determined by measuring the increase in optical density at 600 nm of asynchronous cultures of four independent segregants of each genotype grown in liquid YPD medium at 30°C. Multinucleate cells and mispositioned spindles (late anaphase spindles in the mother) were scored by observing GFP-Tub1 fluorescence in two independent segregants of each genotype. For BUD6 overexpression, arp1
GFP-TUB1 cells (strain YJC3681) were transformed with plasmid pBJ1517 (GAL1-BUD6) and grown in rich galactose or glucose media overnight before scoring spindle position in asynchronous cultures. For these experiments, still images were collected on an Olympus IX70 fluorescence microscope (Melville, NY) with a 100x/1.4 oil immersion objective lens and a Coolsnap HQ camera (Roper Scientific, Duluth, GA). Images were acquired using QED Imaging software (Pittsburgh, PA) and analyzed using Image J (W. Rasband, NIH; http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/).
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allele (31; our unpublished observations), pDA257 was used for most of our subsequent analyses. Use of this nonfunctional bud6p fusion has allowed us to examine Bud6p localization in the absence of normal Bud6p function. We have observed no adverse dominant effects of expressing bud6-1p in BUD6 genetic backgrounds.
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FIG. 1. GFP-Bud6p localizes at SPB-like dots. (A) Diploid wild-type yeast strain AHY26 (Table 1) containing integrated GFP-BUD6 shows staining at one or two SPB-like dots, in addition to the incipient bud site, tips of small buds, and mother-bud neck region. (B and C) Diploid wild-type yeast strain FY23x86 (Table 1) variants expressing plasmid-borne (B) full-length GFP-Bud6p from plasmid pDAb204 or (C) truncated GFP-bud6-1p from plasmid pDA257 show similar distributions of GFP staining. (D and E) GFP-bud6-1p expressed from pDA257 in AHY5 shows colocalization of GFP-bud6-1 "SPB" spots (D) with the SPB component Spc42p (E).
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FIG. 2. GFP-bud6-1p stains the SPB in the absence of dynein or microtubules. (A) Homozygous dynein deletion strain PY23643x3297 (Table 1) expressing GFP-bud6-1p from pDA257. (B) Wild-type diploid strain FY23x86 carrying pDA257 was treated with nocodazole, and GFP-bud6-1p fluorescence was observed at various times; the image shown is of cells after 105 min of exposure to nocodazole, at which point 94% of cells had medium to large buds.
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FIG. 3. GFP-bud6-1p is present as SPB-like dots in nud1-44 cells. Both (A) wild-type NUD1 (IAY522) and (B) mutant nud1-44 (IAY520) (Table 1) cells containing pDA257 maintain GFP-bud6-1p at the SPB after 4 h at the nud1-44 restrictive temperature of 37°C.
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-factor for
3 h, a procedure previously shown to cause complete removal of the outer plaque without loss of the central plaque component Spc42p (2). We discovered that upon prolonged
-factor exposure, GFP-bud6-1p does not colocalize with Spc42p-ECFP (Fig. 4A and B). Prior to
-factor exposure, 92% of cells contained GFP-bud6-1p staining at Spc42p-ECFP spots (not shown), whereas after a 3-h exposure to
-factor, only 18% of cells maintained such colocalization (n
100 cells). Moreover, within this 18% pool, the GFP-bud6-1p SPB staining was significantly dimmer, suggesting that residual staining may be due to incomplete outer-plaque removal in these cells. GFP-bud6-1p does concentrate at mating projections, indicating that
-factor does not have a general effect on GFP-bud6-1p localization. Furthermore, release from
-factor brings GFP-bud6-1p back to the spindle pole (data not shown), consistent with a reported restoration of the multilaminar structure of the SPB under similar conditions (2). These results suggest that GFP-bud6-1p is present only at the cytoplasmic side of the SPB, as the inner plaque (on the nucleoplasmic side of the SPB) is not altered upon extensive
-factor treatment.
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FIG. 4. The SPB outer plaque is required for localization of Bud6p to the SPB. (A and B) Strain AHY5 carrying pDA257 was treated with -factor for 3 h as described in Materials and Methods, and cells were observed for GFP-bud6-1p (A) and Spc42p-ECFP (B). (C and D) The cnm67 mutant strain AHY13 carrying pDA257 was observed for GFP-bud6-1p (C) and Spc42p-ECFP (D). Note that Spc42p-ECFP is still able to stain the SPB, as the central plaque is not affected in cnm67 null cells.
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strain expressing Spc42p-ECFP (AHY13; Materials and Methods) and containing pDA257. GFP-bud6-1p failed to colocalize with Spc42p-ECFP in most cnm67 cells (Fig. 4C and D), although 5% of cells (n > 100) did show GFP-bud6-1p SPB localization. Our observation of more than one or two dots of Spc42p-ECFP staining per cell is consistent with the reported nuclear migration defects of a cnm67 null mutant, causing cells to accumulate multiple SPBs (8). In addition, we noticed that even in the absence of Cnm67p, GFP-bud6-1p is able to mark the incipient bud site and appears as two rings at the mother-bud neck. Thus, we conclude that Cnm67p is essential for Bud6p localization to SPBs but not for its cortical or neck localization.
GFP-bud6-1p behavior in wild-type and bud6
cells.
Others have indicated a role for Bud6p in maintaining microtubule contact at the cell cortex and in properly positioning the nucleus during mitosis (25, 26, 41, 51, 52, 62). We similarly examined the effect of bud6 deletion on truncated bud6-1p localization and SPB movement. Our initial observations of SPB movement in a bud6
strain suggested excessive spindle oscillation, as was similarly observed previously (51, 62). In order to more carefully characterize this SPB behavior in bud6
cells, we followed GFP-bud6-1p localization over time in asynchronous wild-type and bud6
/bud6
diploid strains. The distances of the SPBs from the GFP-bud6-1p-labeled neck rings were measured at 15-s intervals and tabulated to determine the time a given SPB remains "associated" with the mother-bud neck (see Materials and Methods for measuring and scoring criteria). To avoid potential bias, only large-budded cells that had properly positioned spindles at the beginning of the experiment were analyzed. In wild-type cells (Fig. 5A and see Table S1 and Movies S2a and S2b in the supplemental material), one of the two SPBs is generally found associated with the neck (42.7% of the total SPB time recorded; note that 50% is the maximum attainable value if only one of the two SPBs is associated with the neck at one time). The SPBs of mutants defective for Bud6p function, however, spend considerably less time associated with the neck (31.3% of total SPB time recorded; Fig. 5B and see Table S2 and Movies S2c and S2d in the supplemental material) and more frequently oscillate between mother and daughter ("neck crossings"). Furthermore, the average duration of association of a given SPB with the neck region is considerably less for bud6
cells than for the wild type (47 s versus 135 s for SPBs whose neck association was recorded from start to finish or 67 s versus 229 s for all SPB recordings, noting that some of these observations began and/or ended with the SPBs associated with the neck). Overall, these data indicate that SPBs from bud6
mutants are less tightly associated with neck structures, resulting in more frequent preanaphase nuclear oscillations and potentially aberrant nuclear positioning.
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FIG. 5. Graphical representations of SPB movements in wild-type and bud6 /bud6 diploid cells. The distances of GFP-bud6-1p spots from neck ring structures were measured at 15-s intervals in representative cells of (A) the wild type (FY23x86) or (B) bud6 /bud6 (DAY101x102) diploids carrying plasmid pDA257. Positive and negative values denote positions on the mother and daughter sides of the neck, respectively; gray and black lines distinguish the two SPBs.
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, arp1
(ARP1 encodes a component of the dynactin complex), or arp1
kar9
mutants (Fig. 6A). These data indicate that Bud6p is not an essential component of either spindle-positioning pathway.
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FIG. 6. The role of Bud6p in pulling the spindle through the neck. (A) A bud6 mutation does not exacerbate the growth defects of kar9 or arp1 (dynactin) mutants, indicating that Bud6p does not have an important role in either Kar9p or dynein-mediated spindle position; doubling times of the indicated strains are expressed in hours. (B) A bud6 mutation does not increase the frequency with which cells misposition their spindles in wild-type, arp1, or kar9 mutant cells (expressed as percent anaphase spindles in the mother). The strains used for these experiments were YJC3677, -3681, -3685, -3689, -3693, -3697, -3701, and -3705 (Table 1).
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or kar9
cells had long anaphase spindles in the mother, and loss of BUD6 did not increase the fraction of mispositioned spindles observed in arp1
or kar9
cells. Therefore, the Bud6p-microtubule interaction does not appear to contribute to moving the spindle from the mother into the neck under these conditions. Instead, we propose that the most important consequence of this interaction is to sense or stabilize spindle position.
Overexpression of Bud6p enhances SPB-neck interactions.
To further investigate the role of Bud6p in spindle position and SPB-neck interactions, we overexpressed Bud6p in a dynein pathway mutant (arp1
). If Bud6p has a role in pulling the spindle through the mother-bud neck, then overexpression of BUD6 should partially suppress a dynein pathway mutant. When we overexpressed BUD6 from the GAL1 promoter, the frequency with which spindles entered the neck did not change, confirming that Bud6p does not pull the spindle through the neck (Fig. 7A).
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FIG. 7. The role of Bud6 in spindle alignment and SPB-neck interaction. (A) Overexpression of BUD6 does not suppress the spindle position defect of a dynactin (arp1 ) mutant. The percentage of mispositioned late-anaphase spindles were counted (expressed as percent long spindles in the mother) in the wild-type, arp1 (YJC3681), and arp1 bud6 (YJC3697) strains and in an arp1 strain carrying a galactose-inducible BUD6 gene (YJC4035) grown in glucose and galactose. (B) Overexpression of BUD6 in an arp1 mutant restores spindle alignment relative to the mother-bud axis, and the old SPB is at the neck. (Left) Representative YJC4035 cells grown in glucose or galactose. (Right) Percent anaphase spindles in the mother with a SPB at the neck measured in wild-type and YJC3689 (bud6 ) cells and in YJC4035 cells (arp1 GAL1-BUD6) grown in glucose and galactose.
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cells, 90% of late-anaphase spindles in the mother were nearly perpendicular to the mother-bud axis, with neither spindle pole body in the vicinity of the neck. After galactose induction of GAL1-BUD6, one SPB touched the neck in 60% of cells with late-anaphase spindles in the mother. In glucose, no SPBs touched the neck. These results suggest that an important function of Bud6p is to align the mitotic spindle relative to the mother-bud axis, presumably due to Bud6p-mediated interactions between the SPBs and the bud neck.
Loss of Bud6p does not perturb the spindle position checkpoint.
The aberrant spindle oscillations observed in bud6
cells suggested possible defects in regulation of the mitotic exit network (MEN) or the spindle position checkpoint (33). Key regulators of MEN include the small GTPase Tem1p; its two-component GTPase-activating protein (GAP) comprised of Bub2p and Bfa1p; and the Tem1p guanine nucleotide exchange factor, Lte1p. Tem1p, Bub2p, and Bfa1p are localized primarily to the spindle poles, likely maintaining Tem1p in the GDP-bound "off" state until it makes contact with Lte1p, which is localized at the periphery of the growing bud. Exchange of GDP for GTP on Tem1p is thought to initiate MEN signaling, although this remains controversial (14, 21). To determine if Bud6p participates in maintaining Bub2p, Bfa1p, or Tem1p at the SPBs or in bringing Lte1p to the cell periphery, we expressed GFP fusions of these proteins in wild-type and bud6
strains. In each case, we found that loss of Bud6p did not significantly alter the localization of these proteins (see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material and see reference 30 for Bud6p independence of Lte1p localization). We conclude that loss of Bud6p does not significantly impact these components of the MEN signaling pathway.
Another key regulator of mitotic exit is the regulatory phosphatase Cdc14p. This protein is usually sequestered in the nucleolus until MEN activation causes its release, allowing it to act on targets that promote cyclin degradation and exit from mitosis. One hallmark of defects in the spindle position checkpoint is the premature release of Cdc14p from the nucleolus upon microtubule depolymerization; i.e., in the absence of an active checkpoint, these cells will release Cdc14p and prematurely attempt to complete mitosis. Treatment of bud6
cells with nocodazole caused only minor release of GFP-Cdc14p from the nucleolus (Fig. 8), suggesting that this aspect of the spindle position checkpoint is largely unperturbed in the absence of Bud6p. As a control, Cdc14p was released in a significant proportion of nocodazole-treated bub2
cells, consistent with a loss of checkpoint control. Notably, untreated bud6
cells spent proportionately less time in anaphase, as judged by Cdc14-GFP localization. The higher proportion of uninucleate bud6
cells (Fig. 8, single nucleolar staining in untreated cells) suggests a possible delay prior to mitosis or at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition; we are currently investigating this aspect of the bud6
phenotype.
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FIG. 8. bud6 cells are not defective for the spindle position checkpoint. Cdc14-GFP localization was followed in wild type (BHY444), bud6 (BHY443), and bub2 (BHY482) haploid cells before (0 h) or 2 h after addition of nocodazole. Nucleolar Cdc14-GFP was scored as a single cluster in mother or daughter cells (hatched) versus two or more clusters in mother and daughter cells (white); "diffuse" cells (black) had no obvious nucleolar staining. n > 150 cells for each time point.
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cells appears to correlate with an inability to form interactions between either of the SPBs and the neck.
Given Bud6p's diverse roles in regulating cell polarity and spindle positioning, its overlapping localization with most of the proteins of the MEN, and the propensity of bud6
cells to generate multinucleate cells (5), it is tempting to theorize that Bud6p could be helping to coordinate cell cycle events at the SPB by affecting the activity of MEN components. One mechanism that Bud6p could utilize to affect Tem1p activity would be to regulate the localization of the Bub2p/Bfa1p GAP, but we have found no loss of Bub2p or Bfa1p from the SPB in bud6
strains (see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material). Alternatively, Bud6p could modulate the activity of the Bub2p/Bfa1p GAP either directly or through Cdc5p, a polo-like kinase known to inhibit Bub2p/Bfa1p by phosphorylation (22). Interestingly, Cdc5p colocalizes with Bud6p at the bud neck and the SPB (56), but bud6
cells are not defective for Cdc5p localization (data not shown). An additional possibility is that Bud6p could directly affect the activity of the Tem1p GTPase or affect the activity of downstream MEN components that colocalize to the neck and/or SPB. That we do not see additive effects of combining bud6
and bub2
, bfa1
, or lte1
mutations suggests that loss of Bud6p does not tip the balance of the Tem1p GTPase cycle sufficiently to either block mitosis or cause premature activation of the MEN (e.g., by failing to inactivate or activate, respectively, Bub2p/Bfa1p). Arguing against an activating role for Bud6p in the spindle-positioning checkpoint (inhibitory to MEN) are observations by us (5) and others (51) that bud6
cells transit late stages of the cell cycle more slowly than wild-type cells and that Cdc14p is not released from the nucleolus upon nocodazole treatment of bud6
cells (Fig. 8), though we cannot rule out the possibility that nocodazole treatment activates additional checkpoint controls (e.g., spindle-assembly or "no-cut" checkpoints [33, 43]), thereby masking spindle position checkpoint defects. The lack of elongated late-anaphase spindles in bud6
mother cells (Fig. 6B) also argues against Bud6p playing a significant role in the spindle position checkpoint.
Current models suggest that entry of a SPB into the daughter cell is responsible for stimulating mitotic exit (e.g., see reference 26). Our results indicate that, at least in our strain backgrounds, this is likely untrue. We have found that either SPB may be associated with the neck prior to anaphase: in cases where SPBnew (mother) is associated with the neck, SPBold (daughter) spends a significant amount of time in the bud without concomitant entry into anaphase (see Fig. 5A). A more likely scenario is one in which cumulative time of association of either SPB with neck components determines mitotic progression, either through inactivation of spindle-positioning checkpoint controls or through activation of anaphase-promoting complex and/or MEN pathways. It is possible that SPBold is more competent to promote activation, but our results suggest that SPBnew-neck association can also function in this capacity. This is entirely consistent with the recent findings of Magidson et al. (38) that either Schizosaccharomyces pombe SPB can promote cytokinesis. That bud6
mutants are delayed in mitotic progression is also consistent with a role for SPB-neck contact promoting mitotic progression. One plausible explanation for these observations is that progression into anaphase is promoted by bringing SPB components, such as Bfa1p/Bub2p, to the mother-bud neck, where they may be acted upon by the Cdc5p kinase, resulting in activation of the Tem1p GTPase. This could work in concert with the additional activation of Tem1p by the (nonessential) exchange factor Lte1p at the daughter cell cortex. Notably, the contribution by Lte1p would make the daughter-bound SPBold the apparent major, but not sole, contributor to MEN activation.
Bud6p's role in stabilizing preanaphase spindle position could be purely mechanical. In a series of studies, Segal, Bloom, and coworkers (25, 51, 52, 62) have closely monitored microtubule-cortex interactions in bud6, bni1, and kar9 strains and have proposed that Bud6p-dependent sequential interactions of astral microtubules with the bud cortex and bud neck facilitate spindle orientation and subsequent stabilization of the nucleus within the neck. Our observations of unstable nuclear positioning in bud6
cells are in agreement with similar results from these researchers (51, 62). While providing elegant analyses of the relative contributions of Bud6p and Kar9p to microtubule interactions at the cortex, we feel the previously reported data and proposed models do not fully explain Bud6p's role in retaining the preanaphase spindle at the neck. For example, it is difficult to imagine how microtubule-neck interactions could be simultaneously maintained by both SPBs or established rapidly enough to prevent either SPB from escaping the neck in a nucleus that is rapidly oscillating through the neck. Indeed, Jacobs et al. (27) have demonstrated that although microtubules are essential for establishing nuclear orientation, they are not required for retaining the nucleus at the neck once such positioning has been established.
Our discovery of Bud6p SPB localization, our analysis of GFP-bud6-1p behavior in wild-type and bud6
strains (Fig. 5 and see Tables S1 and S2 and Movies S2a to S2d in the supplemental material), and our observation that excess Bud6p can promote SPB-neck interactions (Fig. 7B) support a more direct role for Bud6p in keeping the nucleus bound at the neck via Bud6p-mediated SPB-neck interactions. The C-terminal region of Bud6p contains an extensive heptad repeat region predicted to form coiled-coil interactions. Consequently, the inability of GFP-bud6-1p, which lacks this C-terminal region, to complement spindle-positioning defects might arise from its inability to interact with other heptad repeat proteins, including substrates at the mother-bud neck or SPB. Interestingly, several components of the SPB outer plaque, including Cnm67p and Spc72p, contain extensive heptad repeat domains (24) and could be targets for interaction with Bud6p present at the mother-bud neck, although we have been unable to detect an interaction between Bud6p and these or other (Spc97p, Spc98p, or Spc110p) SPB components (unpublished data). The ability of bud6-1p to localize at the SPB could be due to a smaller heptad repeat region (which shows some similarity to the Cnm67p heptad repeat domain) present in the N-terminal domain or to non-coiled-coil interactions. Similarly, four out of five septins, which are major structural components and polarity determinants of the mother-bud neck, contain C-terminal heptad repeat domains and could serve as sites of interaction with SPB-bound Bud6p. It is also possible that homo-oligomeric interactions between Bud6p molecules (5) of the SPB and neck may contribute to preanaphase nuclear stabilization. Finally, it is possible that Bud6p plays both mechanical and regulatory roles at the SPB: e.g., by utilizing neck-bound Bud6p-microtubule interactions to bring either SPB close enough to stabilize the preanaphase nucleus at the neck via SPB-bound Bud6p.
The presence of Bud6p at the neck and SPBs, coupled with aberrant nuclear movement in bud6
cells, strongly suggests a role for Bud6p in providing quality control to preanaphase nuclear positioning. Based on the prominent preanaphase association of one SPB with the neck and the lack of "neck-crossing" events in wild-type cells, it is likely that Bud6p-mediated associations provide a barrier to block excessive movement of SPBs past components of the mother-bud neck. Perhaps more importantly, we believe that Bud6p also plays an important role in stimulating mitotic progression by bringing regulatory components at the SPBs and bud neck into close proximity with one another. Future studies will help to determine the nature of these interactions and the identity of Bud6p's binding partners that contribute to this novel pathway.
This research was funded by National Institutes of Health grants GM056189 to D.C.A. and GM69895 to J.A.C.
Published ahead of print on 6 April 2007. ![]()
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/. ![]()
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