MPS3 mediates meiotic bouquet formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In meiotic prophase, telomeres associate with the nuclear envelope and accumulate adjacent to the centrosome/spindle pole to form the chromosome bouquet, a well conserved event that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the meiotic telomere protein Ndj1p. Ndj1p interacts with Mps3p, a nuclear envelope SUN domain protein that is required for spindle pole body duplication and for sister chromatid cohesion. Removal of the Ndj1p-interaction domain from MPS3 creates an ndj1 Delta-like separation-of-function allele, and Ndj1p and Mps3p are codependent for stable association with the telomeres. SUN domain proteins are found in the nuclear envelope across phyla and are implicated in mediating interactions between the interior of the nucleus and the cytoskeleton. Our observations indicate a general mechanism for meiotic telomere movements.