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Published on: June 24, 2019
From equator to pole: splitting chromosomes in mitosis and meiosis
1The Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3BF, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
During eukaryotic cell division, chromosomes must be precisely partitioned to daughter cells. This relies on a mechanism to move chromosomes in defined directions within the parental cell. While sister chromatids are segregated from one another in mitosis and meiosis II, specific adaptations enable the segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis I to reduce ploidy for gamete production. Many of the factors that drive these directed chromosome movements are known, and their molecular mechanism has started to be uncovered. Here we review the mechanisms of eukaryotic chromosome segregation, with a particular emphasis on the modifications that ensure the segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis I.
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