Segregation of the nucleolus during mitosis in budding and fission yeast

Abstract

The segregation of the nucleolus during mitosis was examined in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe by indirect immunofluorescence using antibodies directed to highly conserved anti-nucleolus antigens. In mitotic S. pombe cells, the nucleolus appears to trail the bulk of the DNA. In wild-type cells of S. cerevisiae, the nucleolus segregates alongside the bulk of the genomic DNA. Based on its distance from the centromere, we would expect the rDNA in both organisms to segregate behind the majority of the genomic DNA, if telomeric regions trail centromeric regions as in other eukaryotes. We therefore suggest that in S. cerevisiae the nucleolus is attached to other parts of the nucleus which enable it to segregate along with the bulk of the DNA. The segregation of the nucleolus in topoisomerase mutants and nuclear division mutants of S. cerevisiae was also investigated. In cdc14 mutants which arrest at late anaphase, the vast majority of the DNA is separated, but the nucleolar antigens remain extended between the mother and daughter cells. Thus, the CDC14 gene of S. cerevisiae appears to be important for the separation of the nucleolus at mitosis.