Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

The mitotic spindle in the one-cell C. elegans embryo is positioned with high precision and stability

View ORCID ProfileJacques Pecreaux, Stefanie Redemann, Zahraa Alayan, Benjamin Mercat, Sylvain Pastezeur, Carlos Garzon-Coral, Anthony A. Hyman, Jonathon Howard
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/063529
Jacques Pecreaux
1IGDR, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6290, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 2 avenue du Professeur. Léon Bernard, CS 34317, 35043 Rennes cedex, France
2IGDR, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University Rennes 1, F-35043 Rennes, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Jacques Pecreaux
  • For correspondence: jacques.pecreaux@univ-rennes1.fr jonathon.howard@yale.edu
Stefanie Redemann
3Present address: Medizinisch Theoretisches Zentrum (MTZ), Technical University of Dresden, Fiedlerstrasse 42, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Zahraa Alayan
1IGDR, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6290, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 2 avenue du Professeur. Léon Bernard, CS 34317, 35043 Rennes cedex, France
2IGDR, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University Rennes 1, F-35043 Rennes, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Benjamin Mercat
1IGDR, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6290, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 2 avenue du Professeur. Léon Bernard, CS 34317, 35043 Rennes cedex, France
2IGDR, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University Rennes 1, F-35043 Rennes, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sylvain Pastezeur
1IGDR, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6290, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 2 avenue du Professeur. Léon Bernard, CS 34317, 35043 Rennes cedex, France
2IGDR, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University Rennes 1, F-35043 Rennes, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carlos Garzon-Coral
4Shriram Center of Bioengineering and Chemical engineering, Stanford University, 433 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Anthony A. Hyman
4Shriram Center of Bioengineering and Chemical engineering, Stanford University, 433 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jonathon Howard
5Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics PfotenhauerStr. 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: jacques.pecreaux@univ-rennes1.fr jonathon.howard@yale.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Precise positioning of the mitotic spindle is important for specifying the plane of cell division, which in turn determines how the cytoplasmic contents of the mother cell are partitioned into the daughter cells, and how the daughters are positioned within the tissue. During metaphase in the early C. elegans embryo, the spindle is aligned and centered on the anterior-posterior axis by a microtubule-dependent machinery that exerts restoring forces when the spindle is displaced from the center. To investigate the accuracy and stability of centering, we tracked the position and orientation of the mitotic spindle during the first cell division with high temporal and spatial resolution. We found that the precision is remarkably high: the cell-to-cell variation in the transverse position of the center of the spindle during metaphase, as measured by the standard deviation, was only 1.5% of the length of the short axis of the cell. Spindle position is also very stable: the standard deviation of the fluctuations in transverse spindle position during metaphase was only 0.5% of the short axis of the cell. Assuming that stability is limited by fluctuations in the number of independent motor elements such as microtubules or dyneins underlying the centering machinery, we infer that the number is on the order of one thousand, consistent with the several thousand of astral microtubules in these cells. Astral microtubules grow out from the two spindle poles, make contact with the cell cortex, and then shrink back shortly thereafter. The high stability of centering can be accounted for quantitatively if, while making contact with the cortex, the astral microtubules buckle as they exert compressive, pushing forces. We thus propose that the large number of microtubules in the asters provides a highly precise mechanism for positioning the spindle during metaphase while assembly is completed prior to the onset of anaphase.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted September 13, 2016.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The mitotic spindle in the one-cell C. elegans embryo is positioned with high precision and stability
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
The mitotic spindle in the one-cell C. elegans embryo is positioned with high precision and stability
Jacques Pecreaux, Stefanie Redemann, Zahraa Alayan, Benjamin Mercat, Sylvain Pastezeur, Carlos Garzon-Coral, Anthony A. Hyman, Jonathon Howard
bioRxiv 063529; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/063529
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
The mitotic spindle in the one-cell C. elegans embryo is positioned with high precision and stability
Jacques Pecreaux, Stefanie Redemann, Zahraa Alayan, Benjamin Mercat, Sylvain Pastezeur, Carlos Garzon-Coral, Anthony A. Hyman, Jonathon Howard
bioRxiv 063529; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/063529

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Biophysics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4087)
  • Biochemistry (8766)
  • Bioengineering (6480)
  • Bioinformatics (23346)
  • Biophysics (11751)
  • Cancer Biology (9150)
  • Cell Biology (13255)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7417)
  • Ecology (11370)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15088)
  • Genetics (10402)
  • Genomics (14012)
  • Immunology (9122)
  • Microbiology (22050)
  • Molecular Biology (8780)
  • Neuroscience (47376)
  • Paleontology (350)
  • Pathology (1420)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2482)
  • Physiology (3704)
  • Plant Biology (8050)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1431)
  • Synthetic Biology (2209)
  • Systems Biology (6016)
  • Zoology (1250)