Polo kinase Cdc5 is a central regulator of meiosis I. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • During meiosis, two consecutive rounds of chromosome segregation yield four haploid gametes from one diploid cell. The Polo kinase Cdc5 is required for meiotic progression, but how Cdc5 coordinates multiple cell-cycle events during meiosis I is not understood. Here we show that CDC5-dependent phosphorylation of Rec8, a subunit of the cohesin complex that links sister chromatids, is required for efficient cohesin removal from chromosome arms, which is a prerequisite for meiosis I chromosome segregation. CDC5 also establishes conditions for centromeric cohesin removal during meiosis II by promoting the degradation of Spo13, a protein that protects centromeric cohesin during meiosis I. Despite CDC5's central role in meiosis I, the protein kinase is dispensable during meiosis II and does not even phosphorylate its meiosis I targets during the second meiotic division. We conclude that Cdc5 has evolved into a master regulator of the unique meiosis I chromosome segregation pattern.

publication date

  • August 5, 2013

Research

keywords

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Meiosis
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC3761645

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84883378655

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1073/pnas.1311845110

PubMed ID

  • 23918381

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 110

issue

  • 35