A visual atlas of meiotic protein dynamics in living fission yeast

Abstract

Meiosis is a carefully choreographed dynamic process that re-purposes proteins from somatic/vegetative cell division, as well as meiosis-specific factors, to carry out the differentiation and recombination pathway common to sexually reproducing eukaryotes. Studies of individual proteins from a variety of different experimental protocols can make it difficult to compare details between them. Using a consistent protocol in otherwise wild type fission yeast cells, this report provides an atlas of dynamic protein behavior of representative proteins at different stages during normal zygotic meiosis in fission yeast. This establishes common landmarks to facilitate comparison of different proteins and shows that initiation of S phase likely occurs prior to nuclear fusion/karyogamy. SummaryMeiosis is an important process for sexually reproducing organisms. Unique dynamics of recombination and chromosome segregation are required for this differentiation process. Fission yeast is an excellent model to study meiotic progression and chromosome dynamics. Historically, different methodologies have been used to examine protein dynamics in fixed or live cells, which makes comparisons more difficult. In this report, we use fluorescently tagged proteins and live-cell microscopy under uniform conditions to compare meiotic signposts that define dynamic behavior of proteins during meiotic DNA synthesis, nuclear fusion, chromosome alignment, genetic recombination, metaphase, and meiosis. This establishes a reference atlas of protein behavior during meiotic differentiation.