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Transcription of ribosomal genes can cause nondisjunction

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posted on 2023-06-08, 17:41 authored by Felix Machin, Jordi Torres-Rosell, Giacomo De Piccoli, Jesus Carballo, Rita Cha, Adam Jarmuz, Luis Aragon
Mitotic disjunction of the repetitive ribosomal DNA (rDNA) involves specialized segregation mechanisms dependent on the conserved phosphatase Cdc14. The reason behind this requirement is unknown. We show that rDNA segregation requires Cdc14 partly because of its physical length but most importantly because a fraction of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes are transcribed at very high rates. We show that cells cannot segregate rDNA without Cdc14 unless they undergo genetic rearrangements that reduce rDNA copy number. We then demonstrate that cells with normal length rDNA arrays can segregate rDNA in the absence of Cdc14 as long as rRNA genes are not transcribed. In addition, our study uncovers an unexpected role for the replication barrier protein Fob1 in rDNA segregation that is independent of Cdc14. These findings demonstrate that highly transcribed loci can cause chromosome nondisjunction.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB)

ISSN

0021-9525

Publisher

Rockefeller University Press

Issue

6

Volume

173

Page range

893-903

Department affiliated with

  • Sussex Centre for Genome Damage Stability Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-07-11

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2014-07-11

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2014-07-11

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