Kinetochore structure and its role in chromosome orientation during the first meiotic division in male D. melanogaster

Abstract

An electron microscopic investigation of kinetochore structure during the first meiotic division in male Drosophila melanogaster is presented. The data suggest that the structure that is responsible for initial microtubule attachment and chromosome orientation is a single, bilaminar hemisphere on each half-bivalent. Following the initial attachment this structure undergoes morphogenesis to a double-disc structure that reflects the underlying duality of sister chromatids in the half-bivalent. Thus these data support Darlington's idea that sister chromatids disjoin to the same spindle pole because they share a single kinetochore. Additionally, these data suggest that the meiotic mutations ord and mel-S332 sometimes cause premature "doubling" of the kinetochore region though, as discussed, possibly for a trivial reason.