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Updated: May 9, 2026

Examination of Mitotic and Meiotic Fission Yeast Nuclear Dynamics by Fluorescence Live-cell Microscopy
Published on: June 24, 2019
Meiotic chromosomes move by linkage to dynamic actin cables with transduction of force through the nuclear envelope
R Koszul1, K P Kim, M Prentiss
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
Chromosome movement is prominent during meiosis. Here, using a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches, we elucidate the basis for dynamic mid-prophase telomere-led chromosome motion in budding yeast. Diverse findings reveal a process in which, at the pachytene stage, individual telomere/nuclear envelope (NE) ensembles attach passively to, and then move in concert with, nucleus-hugging actin cables that are continuous with the global cytoskeletal actin network. Other chromosomes move in concert with lead chromosome(s). The same process, in modulated form, explains the zygotene "bouquet" configuration in which, immediately preceding pachytene, chromosome ends colocalize dynamically in a restricted region of the NE. Mechanical properties of the system and biological roles of mid-prophase movement for meiosis, including recombination, are discussed.
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