Quantification of spindle architecture: Lessons from C. elegans

Speaker: Professor Thomas Müller-Reichert, Experimental Center, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, University of Technology Dresden

Host: Professor Ulrike Eggert

Abstract: The Müller-Reichert lab is interested in the three-dimensional organization of microtubules during meiosis, mitosis and cytokinesis. We are applying serial-section electron tomography of staged and cryo-immobilized samples to analyze the 3D path and length distribution of microtubules in large-scale reconstructions. For instance, we have recently analyzed kinetochore microtubules in the mitotic one-cell C. elegans embryo. Unexpectedly, we found that only a few kinetochore microtubules directly connect to the centrosomes.  We further observed that the connection between centrosomes and chromosomes is mediated by an anchoring into the entire spindle network and that any direct connections through kinetochore microtubules are few and likely very transient. Currently, we are also analyzing female and male meiotic spindles in C. elegans to compare spindle organization in acentrosomal versus acentrosomal environments. Our long-term idea is to develop biophysical models of both mitotic and meiotic spindles.