Managing microtubules in the oocyte

In most species, oocytes lack centrosomes. Accurate meiotic spindle assembly and chromosome segregation – essential to prevent miscarriage or developmental defects – thus occur through atypical mechanisms that are not well characterized.

In their recent Development paper (Volume 144, Issue 9) Julien Dumont and colleagues (including first authors Emmanuelle Gigant and Marine Stefanutti) investigate the role of the kinesin-13 KLP-7 in regulating the microbule cytoskeleton through meiosis, revealing a novel destabilising function. The paper uses live imaging of immobilised worms in which cytoskeletal components were labelled fluorescently, as shown in the beautiful movies above.

Read the paper here:
http://dev.biologists.org/content/144...

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