Journal of Cell Science 115, e1904-e1904 (2002)
Copyright © 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited
doi:
Telomere clustering
During meiotic prophase, chromosome telomeres aggregate at the nuclear
envelope to form a `bouquet'. This clustering is thought somehow to facilitate
pairing of homologous chromosomes and coincides with a polarization of nuclear
and cytoplasmic components. The details of these two processes have remained
obscure; however, studies by Zacheus Cande and co-workers using a novel method
for culturing rye anthers that allows temporal analysis of meiotic events now
provide significant insight into the clustering mechanism and its link with
meiotic cell polarization. On p.
3747, the authors report that the microtubule-depolymerising drug
colchicine inhibits telomere clustering but that other
microtubule-depolymerising drugs have no effect. Their report on
p. 3757 extends these studies
to show that concentrations of colchicine that block telomere clustering do
not inhibit the eccentric nuclear positioning and reorganization of nuclear
pores that occur during meiotic cell polarization. This work indicates that,
at least in rye, telomere clustering does not require cytoplasmic microtubules
but depends on another, perhaps tubulin-related, colchicine target. Moreover,
it demonstrates that reorganization of the meiotic cell and telomere
clustering are not interdependent, suggesting they instead rely on a
telomere-independent polarity cue.
Related articles in JCS:
- Meiotic telomere clustering is inhibited by colchicine but does not require cytoplasmic microtubules
- Carrie R. Cowan and W. Zacheus Cande
JCS 2002 115: 3747-3756.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
- Reorganization and polarization of the meiotic bouquet-stage cell can be uncoupled from telomere clustering
- Carrie R. Cowan, Peter M. Carlton, and W. Zacheus Cande
JCS 2002 115: 3757-3766.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
