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First published online January 13, 2009

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Cells cycle with no poles

In Drosophila, the nuclear divisions following fertilisation oscillate rapidly between S and M phases, with no growth phases or cytoplasmic cleavage. Metazoan development depends on correct cell-cycle control, but it remains unknown how DNA replication and mitosis are coordinated during such rapid divisions. On p. 449, Laura Lee and co-workers reveal that no poles (nopo), a gene encoding a putative ubiquitin ligase, is essential for the preservation of genomic integrity during these early stages of Drosophila development. The researchers find that nopo mutant flies have misshapen spindles and undergo mitotic arrest, and that a mutation in the gene encoding the DNA checkpoint kinase CHK2 partially rescues these defects. Thus, the nopo phenotype is probably due to CHK2-mediated centrosome inactivation, a protective mechanism in flies that prevents nuclear division after DNA damage or incomplete replication. In addition, the researchers demonstrate that NOPO interacts with BEN, a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, leading them to propose that NOPO and BEN form a ubiquitin ligase complex that is required to prevent DNA defects during Drosophila embryogenesis.

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Related articles in Development:

no poles encodes a predicted E3 ubiquitin ligase required for early embryonic development of Drosophila

Julie A. Merkle, Jamie L. Rickmyre, Aprajita Garg, Erin B. Loggins, Jeanne N. Jodoin, Ethan Lee, Louisa P. Wu, and Laura A. Lee
Development 2009 136: 449-459. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?