[Report] Accurate concentration control of mitochondria and nucleoids

Monday, August 15, 2016 - 14:22 in Physics & Chemistry

All cellular materials are partitioned between daughters at cell division, but by various mechanisms and with different accuracy. In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the mitochondria are pushed to the cell poles by the spindle. We found that mitochondria spatially reequilibrate just before division, and that the mitochondrial volume and DNA-containing nucleoids instead segregate in proportion to the cytoplasm inherited by each daughter. However, nucleoid partitioning errors are suppressed by control at two levels: Mitochondrial volume is actively distributed throughout a cell, and nucleoids are spaced out in semiregular arrays within mitochondria. During the cell cycle, both mitochondria and nucleoids appear to be produced without feedback, creating a net control of fluctuations that is just accurate enough to avoid substantial growth defects. Authors: Rishi Jajoo, Yoonseok Jung, Dann Huh, Matheus P. Viana, Susanne M. Rafelski, Michael Springer, Johan Paulsson

Read the whole article on Science NOW

More from Science NOW

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net