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Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2009, p. 4552-4562, Vol. 29, No. 16
0270-7306/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.01911-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Efficient Chromosome Biorientation and the Tension Checkpoint in Saccharomyces cerevisiae both Require Bir1{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Vasso Makrantoni and Michael J. R. Stark*

Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation & Expression, MSI/WTB/JBC Complex, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom

Received 18 December 2008/ Returned for modification 17 February 2009/ Accepted 2 June 2009

Accurate chromosome segregation requires the capture of sister kinetochores by microtubules from opposite spindle poles prior to the initiation of anaphase, a state termed chromosome biorientation. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the conserved protein kinase Ipl1 (Aurora B in metazoans) is critical for ensuring correct chromosomal alignment. Ipl1 associates with its activators Sli15 (INCENP), Nbl1 (Borealin), and Bir1 (Survivin), but while Sli15 clearly functions with Ipl1 to promote chromosome biorientation, the role of Bir1 has been uncertain. Using a temperature-sensitive bir1 mutant (bir1-17), we show that Bir1 is needed to permit efficient chromosome biorientation. However, once established, chromosome biorientation is maintained in bir1-17 cells at the restrictive temperature. Ipl1 is partially delocalized in bir1-17 cells, and its protein kinase activity is markedly reduced under nonpermissive conditions. bir1-17 cells arrest normally in response to microtubule depolymerization but fail to delay anaphase when sister kinetochore tension is reduced. Thus, Bir1 is required for the tension checkpoint. Despite their robust mitotic arrest in response to nocodazole, bir1-17 cells are hypersensitive to microtubule-depolymerizing drugs and show a more severe biorientation defect on recovery from nocodazole treatment. The role of Bir1 therefore may become more critical when spindle formation is delayed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Wellcome Trust Centre for GRE, College of Life Sciences, MSI/WTB/JBC Complex, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1382 384250. Fax: 44 1382 384782. E-mail: m.j.r.stark{at}dundee.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 June 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://mcb.asm.org/.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2009, p. 4552-4562, Vol. 29, No. 16
0270-7306/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.01911-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Keating, P., Rachidi, N., Tanaka, T. U., Stark, M. J. R. (2009). Ipl1-dependent phosphorylation of Dam1 is reduced by tension applied on kinetochores. J. Cell Sci. 122: 4375-4382 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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