Bethan Medina‐Pritchard

Rules of engagement for condensins and cohesins guide mitotic chromosome formation

In DT40 cells, condensins displace extrusive cohesin, bypass cohesive cohesin and stall against each other while extruding ~1-3 kb/sec, yielding irregular helical chromatids of consecutive loops.

PLK1-Mediated Phosphorylation Cascade Activates the Mis18 Complex to Ensure Centromere Inheritance

The paper identifies PLK1-mediated phosphorylation of Mis18 and Mis18BP1 as essential for activating the Mis18 complex to ensure CENP-A loading and centromere inheritance.

Functional Plasticity in Chromosome-Microtubule Coupling on the Evolutionary Time Scale

The paper identifies a conserved arginine residue in the Dam1 complex subunit Dad2 that is essential for viability in yeast but less so in fungi with regional centromeres, suggesting functional plasticity in chromosome-microtubule coupling.