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Septins and a formin have distinct functions in anaphase chiral cortical rotation in the C. elegans zygote

Adhham Zaatri, Jenna A. Perry, Amy Shaub Maddox
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.07.242123
Adhham Zaatri
Department of Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill
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Jenna A. Perry
Department of Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill
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Amy Shaub Maddox
Department of Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill
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  • For correspondence: asm@unc.edu
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Abstract

Many cells and tissues exhibit chirality that stems from the chirality of constituent proteins and polymers. For example, the C. elegans zygote undergoes an actomyosin-driven chiral rotation in which the entire cortex is displaced circumferentially around the division plane during anaphase. This phenomenon thus relates to how force and chirality are translated across scales. Although it is known that actomyosin contractility drives this rotation, the molecular mechanisms transmitting contractility to chiral movement, and dictating handedness, are not understood. Septins are candidates for contributing to cell-scale chirality due to their ability to anchor and organize the actomyosin cytoskeleton. Here, we report that septins are required for anaphase cortical rotation. In contrast, the formin CYK-1, which we found to be enriched in the posterior in early anaphase, is not required for cortical rotation, but contributes to its chirality. Simultaneous loss of septin and CYK-1 function led to highly abnormal and often reversed cortical rotation. We propose a model by which anaphase cortical contractility is biased in a chiral fashion via interaction between the circumferential cytokinetic ring and perpendicular, longitudinal formin-based actin bundles that have accumulated torsional stress during formin-based polymerization. Our findings thus shed light on the molecular and physical bases for cellular chirality in the C. elegans zygote. We also identify conditions in which chiral rotation fails but animals are developmentally viable, opening avenues for future work on the relationship between early embryonic cellular chirality and animal body plan.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • The order in which results are presented has been changed, and additional schematics and image annotation have been added, for increased clarity.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 03, 2020.
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Septins and a formin have distinct functions in anaphase chiral cortical rotation in the C. elegans zygote
Adhham Zaatri, Jenna A. Perry, Amy Shaub Maddox
bioRxiv 2020.08.07.242123; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.07.242123
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Septins and a formin have distinct functions in anaphase chiral cortical rotation in the C. elegans zygote
Adhham Zaatri, Jenna A. Perry, Amy Shaub Maddox
bioRxiv 2020.08.07.242123; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.07.242123

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